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The third international conference dedicated to developing the scientific breakthroughs and governance structures for globalising artificial photosynthesis and promoting its role in environmental and social sustainability will be held 9-11 September 2016 at Lord Howe Island, a beautiful world heritage-listed site in the South Pacific.

Synthetic or artificial photosynthesis, if distributed globally, could allow every road, house and vehicle on the earth’s surface to make renewable fuel, fertilizer and food by using sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen while absorbing atmospheric nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Artificial photosynthesis can help cities contribute ethically to natural ecosystem sustainability, assist desert crop production and forestation, reduce atmospheric CO2 levels, lower geopolitical and military tensions over fossil fuel, food and water scarcity, take resource pressure off and promote rights of natural ecosystems; by creating low-cost, globally distributed carbon-neutral hydrogen and ammonia fuel and fertilizer for domestic, community and industrial use as well as biochar for soil enrichment.

The aim of the conference is to promote and assist the integration of artificial photosynthesis research with a range of disciplines related to environmental sustainability and human flourishing, including those promoting the vision of humanity as principled ecosystem steward in a Sustainocene epoch. In particular it will focus on developing links to and support from initiatives such as the Breakthrough Energy Coalition by which a group of influential philanthropists aims to foster, patient, flexible risk capital to bring sustainable energy innovations such as artificial photosynthesis to market.  It will also seek to seek to establish links with UNESCO sustainability, ethics and governance initiatives. It will foster international collaboration and strategies for funding through a global effort in five key areas of global artificial photosynthesis:

• a. Electricity generation and storage (i.e., via fuel cells)
• b. Energy dense zero carbon transportation fuels
• c. Zero carbon fuels for Industrial use;
• d. Sustainable ammonia fertilizer to assist agriculture; and
• e. Role of artificial photosynthesis in global energy system efficiency and sustainability
• f. Global collaborations, governance, ethics, policy structures and models.

The conference will allow participants including representatives from academia, governments, UNESCO and sustainability initiatives such as the Breakthrough Energy Coalition to interact in unique, intimate surrounds of this beautiful World Heritage site with some of the world’s leading experts in artificial photosynthesis, nanotechnology and global governance of artificial photosynthesis, including:

• Dan Nocera, Harvard
• Dohyung Kim, Berkeley
• KB Yoon, Sogang
• Chennupati Jagadish, ANU
• James Blakemore, Kansas
• Shunichi Fukuzumi, Osaka
• Rodney Smith, Berlin
• Kylie Catchpole, ANU
• Wojciech Lipinski, ANU
• Wai Ling Kwong, Umea
• Kosei Ueno, Hokkaido
• Tomoya Oshikiri, Hokkaido
• Eli Romero Mesa

Note: For flight and accommodation enquiries/bookings contact Shelly Mansfield at Oxley Travel on 1800 671 546 or shelly@oxleytravel.com.au.

Program

Download the program