The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 24<sup>th</sup> Conference of Parties (COP24) was held in Katowice, Poland, in early December 2018. Representatives from states party to the treaty met to negotiate mechanisms for preventing and mitigating anthropogenic climate change. This goal presents a number of political and technological challenges for energy production, storage, and consumption on the global scale. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will depend upon lowering combustion of fossil fuels, making tools for the efficient use of renewable resources the core of the chemist’s contribution to combating climate change. Catalytic technologies have formed an integral part of this effort, with applications to both industrial and home energy use. At the generation stage, catalysts have fulfilled a crucial role in more efficient refining of petrochemicals through alkylation, cracking, and steam reforming, an important step in meeting large energy needs on an increasingly limited petroleum supply. Upon energy generation, novel catalysts are being utilized to better store this energy for long-term use through processes like water-splitting, a necessary breakthrough technology for the hypothetical hydrogen economy. Intermittent renewable energy resources like solar and wind power will also require efficient energy storage methods to maintain consistent supply to electrical grids. During consumption, energy costs are decreased by the effective use of catalysts to produce industrial chemical products, like ammonia and bulk polymers, at lower temperatures and pressures. In this presentation, the role of catalysis in climate change mitigation and in the surrounding international negotiations is considered.

Catalysis and sustainable energy: Lowering barriers to change

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.