About 65 attendees from all the SUNRISE official supporter organisations in Finland (and not only!) attended the CSA initiative’s Finnish workshop in Turku on December 9, 2019. The meeting was organized by the SUNRISE Finnish chapter, the Nordic Centre of Excellence NordAqua and SmartBio Biocity Turku Research Programme, and comprised a series of interdisciplinary lectures by renowned scientists in solar energy research, followed by a panel discussion.
The topics covered included the priority solar research directions which will feed into a comprehensive science and technology roadmap, and discussions on the governance of SUN-ERGY, the future large-scale initiative in the area of fossil-free fuels and chemicals, which stems from two European flagship initiatives on Energy, SUNRISE and ENERGY-X.
The gathering, which took place at BioCity center of the University of Turku, was a great success to bring together stakeholders from the research and investigation community, industry, and funding agencies who discussed the CSA initiative and exchanged the sustainable energy and chemicals production in Finland and in Europe. A special session was devoted to basic research on the molecular mechanisms of natural photosynthesis.
SUNRISE partner and SUN-ERGY co-chair Frédéric Chandezon (CEA) opened the first session with an overview of the current and upcoming initiatives. Other SUNRISE partners like Arne Roth (Fraunhofer), Joanna Kargul (University of Warsaw) and Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne (University of Turku) summarised the three approaches included in the SUNRISE roadmap to a clean-energy EU: electrochemical conversion with renewable power, direct conversion via integrated artificial photosynthetic systems, and direct conversion via biological and biohybrid systems.
The next session was led by different SUNRISE supporters coming both from the academic and industrial sectors. Among the distinguished speakers were Merja Penttilä (VTT), Mika Valden (Tampere University, PREIN Academy Flagship), Jero Ahola (LUT University), Johan Bobacka (Åbo Akademi University), Paulina Uronen (Neste), and Tekla Tammelin (VTT, FinnCERES Academy Flagship).
Other supporters like Maija Pohjakallio (Sulapac Oy), Linda Fröberg-Niemi (Turku Science Park Oy), Juha-Pekka Pitkänen (SolarFoods Oy), Friedrich Baerbel (member of the SUNRISE Advisory Board), and Tom Granström (St1) also contributed to provide the big picture of the current status of the European energy transition from fossil to renewable resources.
The workshop discussion panel, which was moderated by Yagut Allahverdiyeva-Rinne, counted with the participation of Juho Korteniemi (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland), Kyösti Lempa (Nordforsk), Friedrich Baerbel (German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina), Frédéric Chandezon, Eva-Mari Aro (EASAC vice-chair, University of Turku), Joanna Kargul, Reko Leino (Academy of Finland), Jero Ahola (LUT University).
Check out the event’s program and Twitter wrap-up!
