Leading the way in global sustainability bioenergy
Over the past two weeks, the Hub team and early career researchers from the Energy & Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI) at Aston University have been highlighting their contributions to global sustainability bioenergy research at two major international conferences across Europe. They have received prestigious awards and shared their latest innovative research with a diverse audience of delegates and young people from around the world in the cities of Rome and Marseille.
Going global at GBEP Youth Day
First stop: Global Bioenergy Partnership Week 2024 (GBEP) in Rome, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Our Hub-funded outreach activity, Global Bioenergy Stories, was showcased by the team in a new interactive game to hundreds of young people as part of the GBEP Youth Day celebrations. This engaging and educational activity, developed by our bioenergy experts, gives future generations a voice on renewable energy. It has been delivered in schools across the globe, including in the Philippines, India, Rwanda, and the UK.
GBEP Youth Award 2024 Success
At GBEP Youth Day, Czaneil Gomez, an early career researcher based at the University of the Philippines Los Baños and Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) received the prestigious GBEP Youth Award 2024. The Award is in recognition for Czaneil’s research on harnessing rice straw to empower rice farming communities in the Philippines which was undertaken at EBRI under the supervision of Mirjam Röder and Katie Chong. You can read the full Aston University Press Release here.
Mirjam Röder said:
“EBRI is committed to capacity building and support early career researchers. Czaneil’s GBEP Youth Award success is a fantastic achievement. It shows the importance of empowering future generations to develop skills and knowledge in the field of sustainability and renewable energy for local communities. Czaneil is a female engineer from a low-income background, and I have found working with her insightful and inspiring. The experience has emphasised that all ideas, perspectives and voices are relevant to find inclusive solutions in tackling climate change.”
Czaneil is currently carrying out research on the Rice Straw Biogas Hub project in partnership with EBRI, Supergen Bioenergy Hub industrial partner Straw Innovations, SEARCA and Koolmill.
The Embassy of the Philippines in Rome has also covered the news here.
Taking to the stage at European Biomass Conference & Exhibition (EUBCE)
Second stop: Over 1300 participants from 54 countries were in attendance at this year’s EUBCE in Marseille including our Hub team and EBRI early career researchers.
Dan Taylor, PhD student from EBRI and Committee member for the Hub’s SHARE network presented his work on designing biomass policy and net zero during the ‘Biofuel and Biomethane policies’. Dan’s work researches how the success of renewable technologies in replacing fossil fuels is heavily influenced by a range of political and economic factors, and what this means for using biomass, exploring the trade-offs between environmental sustainability, economic feasibility, and social impacts to reach net zero.
Prince Okoro, PhD student from EBRI won an Award for his work presented in the poster session on modern bioenergy deployment opportunities in Nigeria!
And Mirjam Röder our Hub sustainability expert took part in a panel discussion on the session on ‘Environmental assessment of bioenergy and bio-based systems’.
Well done team!
