Biological Solutions for the Global CO2 Challenge

Overview

Conference Overview

Successful reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels to pre-industrial levels is among the most pressing current challenges for scientific innovation. Given the scale of its impact on the global ecosystems and socio-economic implications, innovative solutions are urgently needed at the chemistry as well as biological front. The EMBL conference “Biological Solutions for the Global CO2 Challenge” will bring together scientific leaders, industrial players, as well as policy makers to discuss how synthetic biology and metabolic engineering can contribute to sustainable CO2 capture and conversion.

The conference topics will cover the entire chain of innovation, from the laboratory to the field implementation. Approaches that make optimal use of the evolutionarily optimised biological systems, like algae and plants, as well as novel synthetic biology solutions for CO2 fixation and conversion to value added chemicals will be discussed. The role of fundamental molecular biology in catalysing innovation will be one of the main focus areas for discussion.

Session topics

• Processes currently scaling up
• Microalgae solutions
• Cell free systems and new pathways
• Building complexity

Speakers

Arren Bar-Even

Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPIMP)

Germany

Sarah D’Adamo

Wageningen University & Research

The Netherlands

Martin Frick

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Germany

Bärbel Friedrich

Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald

Germany

Thomas Haas

Evonik GmbH

Germany

Doris Hafenbradl

Electrochaea

Germany

Cheryl Kerfeld

Berkeley National Laboratory and Michigan State University

USA

Michael Koepke

LanzaTech

USA

Olaf Kruse

Bielefeld University

Germany

James Liao

Academia Sinica

Taiwan

Peter Lindblad

Uppsala University

Sweden

Volker Müller

Goethe University

Germany

Juha-Pekka Pitkänen

Solar Foods Oy

Finland

Jan Schuller

Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry

Germany

Scientific Organisers

Mohsen Ben Haha

HeidelbergCement

Germany

Tobias Erb

Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology

Germany

Kiran Patil

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Conference Organisers

Nathalie Sneider

EMBL Heidelberg

Germany

Programme