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Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels

Gordon Research Conference

Renewable Fuels for the Future

January 19 - 24, 2014
Chairs Michael R. Wasielewski and Stenbjorn Styring
Vice Chairs Fraser A. Armstrong and Heinz Frei
Four Points Sheraton / Holiday Inn Express
1050 Schooner Drive
Ventura, California, United States
 Venue and Travel Information

Conference Description

The 2014 Gordon Conference on "Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels" will explore new ideas and progress in the problem of generating chemical fuels from water and other renewable feedstocks using sunlight as the energy source. The Conference will cover topics ranging from advances in understanding natural photosynthetic and enzymatic processes to synthetic model systems for artificial photosynthesis, nanomaterial-based approaches, and system concepts based on semi-synthetic organisms and solar thermal/chemical conversion. The Conference will bring together young and established investigators who are at the forefront of their fields to explore these interdisciplinary themes. Participants, including students and postdocs, are encouraged to present their results in poster sessions, and some poster presenters will be selected for short talks. The collegial atmosphere of this Conference, with programmed discussion sessions and informal gatherings in the afternoons and evenings, provides a unique international forum in which the academic and industrial scientists can exchange ideas to advance the field of renewable energy.

Related Meeting

This GRC will be held in conjunction with the "Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels" Gordon Research Seminar (GRS). Those interested in attending both meetings must submit an application for the GRS in addition to an application for the GRC. Refer to the associated GRS program page for more information.

Conference Program

SUNDAY
4:00 pm - 8:00 pmArrival and Check-in (Office Closed 6:00 pm - 7:45 pm)
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmWelcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:40 pm - 9:30 pmPhotosynthesis and Biological Systems
Discussion Leader: David Britt (University of California, Davis)
7:40 pm - 8:05 pmHolger Dau (Freie University Berlin)
"From Water Oxidation at the Mn4CaO5 Cluster of Photosynthesis to Biomimetic Oxide Catalysts"
8:05 pm - 8:15 pmDiscussion
8:15 pm - 8:40 pmPer Siegbahn (Stockholm University)
"Impact from the Knowledge of the OEC on Artificial Water Oxidation"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
8:50 pm - 9:15 pmDavid Tiede (Argonne National Laboratory)
"Hybrid Architectures that Combine Biological and Chemical Designs for Solar Fuels Catalysis"
9:15 pm - 9:25 pmDiscussion
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
8:30 amGroup Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pmLight Capture and Utilization
Discussion Leader: Emily Weiss (Northwestern University)
9:00 am - 9:30 amAnders Hagfeldt (Uppsala University)
"Mesoscopic Solar Cell and Solar Fuel Devices"
9:30 am - 9:45 amDiscussion
9:45 amCoffee Break
10:15 am - 10:45 amTobin Marks (Northwestern University)
"Interface Science of Soft Matter Photovoltaics"
10:45 am - 11:00 amDiscussion
11:00 am - 11:30 amJames McCusker (Michigan State University)
"First-Row Transition Metal-Based Chromophores for Solar Energy Conversion: Challenges and Opportunities"
11:30 am - 11:45 amDiscussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pmTBA
12:15 pm - 12:30 pmDiscussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmWater Oxidation Catalysis
Discussion Leader: Kazunari Domen (University of Tokyo)
7:30 pm - 8:00 pmYulia Pushkar (Purdue University)
"Myths and Realities of Catalytic Water Oxidation by Ru Complexes"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pmDiscussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pmLicheng Sun (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
"From Highly Efficient Molecular Catalysts to Functional Devices for Light Driven Water Splitting"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pmThomas Hamann (Michigan State University)
"Photocatalytic Water Oxidation at the Hematite Surface"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pmDiscussion
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmWater Oxidation and Proton Reduction Catalysis
Discussion Leader: Can Li (Chinese Academy of Sciences)
9:00 am - 9:30 amCharles Dismukes (Rutgers University)
"Learning from Nature: Monophasic Crystalline Oxides, Sulfides and Phosphides for OER and HER Electrocatalysts"
9:30 am - 9:45 amDiscussion
9:45 amCoffee Break
10:15 am - 10:45 amJonas Peters (California Institute of Technology)
"Evolving Hydrogen When You Want It, and Avoiding It When You Don't"
10:45 am - 11:00 amDiscussion
11:00 am - 11:30 amChris Chang (University of California, Berkeley)
"Chemical and Chemical Biology Approaches to Proton and CO2 Reduction Catalysis"
11:30 am - 11:45 amDiscussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pmVincent Artero (CEA-Grenoble)
"Hydrogen Evolution: Bio-Inspired Catalysts and Artificial Hydrogenases"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pmDiscussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmBiological and Biomimetic Proton Reduction Catalysis
Discussion Leader: Richard Eisenberg (University of Rochester)
7:30 pm - 8:00 pmOliver Lenz (Technische Universität Berlin)
"H2 Production in the Presence of O2 as Catalyzed by [NiFe]-Hydrogenases"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pmDiscussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pmWolfgang Lubitz (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion)
"Artificial Hydrogenases for Hydrogen Production"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pmSasha Ott (Uppsala University)
"Mimicking the Protein Matrix - Third Coordination Sphere Effects in Catalysis"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pmDiscussion
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmProton and CO2 Reduction Catalysis
Discussion Leader: Marcetta Darensbourg (Texas A&M University)
9:00 am - 9:30 amRoel van de Krol (Technische Universität Berlin)
"Identifying and Solving Performance Bottlenecks in Complex Metal Oxide Photoanodes for Solar Water Splitting"
9:30 am - 9:45 amDiscussion
9:45 amCoffee Break
10:15 am - 10:45 amLeif Hammarström (Uppsala University)
"Surface Electron Transfer and Catalyst Intermediates in Molecular Systems for Solar Fuels"
10:45 am - 11:00 amDiscussion
11:00 am - 11:30 amAaron Appel (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)
"Molecular Catalysts for a Paradoxical Purpose: Carbon-Neutral, Carbon-Based Fuels from CO2"
11:30 am - 11:45 amDiscussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pmRonny Neumann (Weizmann Institute of Science)
"Polyoxometalates as Electron Donors/Acceptors for the Reduction of Carbon Dioxide"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pmDiscussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pmBusiness Meeting
Nominations for the Next Vice Chair; Fill in Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss Future Site and Scheduling Preferences; Election of the Next Vice Chair
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmCO2 Reduction Catalysis
Discussion Leader: Clifford Kubiak (University of California, San Diego)
7:30 pm - 8:00 pmEtsuko Fujita (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
"CO2 Hydrogenation vs. Photo- and Electrochemical CO2 Reduction"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pmDiscussion
8:10 pm - 8:40 pmJean Andino (Arizona State University)
"Photocatalytic Conversion of Carbon Dioxide and Water Vapor to Useful Fuels"
8:40 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
8:50 pm - 9:20 pmEllen Stechel (Arizona State University)
"Some Recent Progress in Solar Thermochemical CO2 Reduction"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pmDiscussion
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmIntegrated Systems for Solar Fuels Production
Discussion Leader: Dan Nocera (Harvard University)
9:00 am - 9:30 amWim Vermaas (Arizona State University)
"Cyanobacterial Biocatalysts for Solar-Powered Fatty Acid Production"
9:30 am - 9:45 amDiscussion
9:45 amCoffee Break
10:15 am - 10:45 amBen Hankamer (University of Queensland)
"Towards High Efficiency Microalgae Fuel Systems"
10:45 am - 11:00 amDiscussion
11:00 am - 11:30 amXile Hu (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
"Integrating Earth-Abundant Catalysts for Photoelectrochemical Solar Fuel Generation"
11:30 am - 11:45 amDiscussion
11:45 am - 12:15 pmRachel Segalman (University of California, Berkeley)
"Design of Membranes and Mesoscale Structures for Solar Fuels Devices"
12:15 pm - 12:30 pmDiscussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmNew Directions in Solar Fuels Research
Discussion Leader: Fraser Armstrong (University of Oxford) and Heinz Frei (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
7:30 pm - 8:00 pmHarry Gray (California Institute of Technology)
"Report from the NSF CCI Solar Fuels Research Program"
8:00 pm - 8:10 pmDiscussion
8:10 pm - 8:25 pmTBA (Poster Talk)
8:25 pm - 8:30 pmDiscussion
8:30 pm - 8:45 pmTBA (Poster Talk)
8:45 pm - 8:50 pmDiscussion
8:50 pm - 9:05 pmTBA (Poster Talk)
9:05 pm - 9:10 pmDiscussion
9:10 pm - 9:25 pmTBA (Poster Talk)
9:25 pm - 9:30 pmDiscussion
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDeparture

Contributors

Conference Links

Conference History Renewable Energy: Solar Fuels (GRS)
Additional Fee Info

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Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms
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Metals in Biology
January 19 - 24, 2025


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