Materials & low carbon energy production

Abstract

sustainable processing. One good example of this is related to cork (see e,g, L. Gil, Solar energy and cork: A binomial of the future, Science & Technology of Materials, vol. 30, No. 2, 2018, pp. 80-86) . In this field several solar energy application possibilities in forestry and industrial processes are considered, and the use of different cork derived products in several solar energy technologies and applications is also assessed. So cork is a sector were solar energy may be used in various ways and cork material can be a component in various solar energy systems/devices. This type of analysis could also be carried out for several other materials production and renewable energy production systems. It would be interesting to have an approach like this, done by several experts in the several domains of materials and low carbon energy production technologies. Sustainability is now not only a key word but also a key concept in every issue of our life. So, in the materials field, the use of natural and sustainable materials is a must. Having in mind the relation between materials and low carbon energy production, a lot of R&D work has been carried out. Only as a way of example, in this field see e.g. R.C. Pullar, L. Gil, F.A.C. Oliveira, Biomimetic cork-based ecoceramics for hydrogen generation using concentrated solar energy, Science & Technology of Materials, vol. 28, No. 1, 2016, pp. 23-28. In this work, cork was chosen as template to produce novel ceria (CeO2) ecoceramics, for applications in water splitting for H2 production via direct concentrated solar thermo chemical fuel production (TCFP). Energy and materials are currently two of the main focuses of Science and Technology, in particular due to environmental and supply concerns. The search for cheaper and more efficient energy production obviously involves the development of new and innovative materials. So, energy and materials are nowadays driving science and technology. The time when only a few materials such as steel, copper and concrete were the main components of energy technologies has long gone. In addition to new classes of materials, there is also a need to improve the physical and chemical characteristics of existing materials to improve the competitiveness of industrial materials production and to reduce their environmental footprint through better use of energy.