Energy and Environment - the second KIT Innovation Day in China

The careful use of resources such as water, air or raw materials, as well as the containment of global climate change are urgent challenges of society. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sees humans as the main cause: They release greenhouse gases, such as CO2, into the atmosphere, which leads to noticeable changes in the climate system. According to the European Commission, one of the main emitters of carbon dioxide is China.

The second KIT Innovation Day in China was therefore dedicated to energy and environment. Five experts from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) presented their work to raise awareness of current challenges. The aim was to create a dialogue on common research interests and cooperation opportunities. Topics included environmental and energy management at KIT, sustainable planning of cities, their buildings and industry, water quality monitoring methods, water treatment and resource management. Furthermore, it dealt with the safety of nuclear reactors, nuclear disposal, radiation protection and security vulnerabilities. Participants were also able to find out about some of KIT's successful developments in the areas of energy and environment, such recycling phosphorus from wastewater, organic solar foils or a sensor that measures the fine dust concentration in the air via smartphone. In addition, Professor Yong Geng, Director of Environmental Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, discussed the health effects of high levels of CO2 in major Chinese cities.

KIT Innovation Day aims at creating a network between current and future partners in order to connect them in a platform for new collaborations and in-depth discussions. The event took place at the Global Advanced Manufacturing Institute (GAMI). Since 2008, the branch office of the wbk Institute for Production Technology of KIT has been researching global production structures to develop robust networks adapted to the local conditions of the People's Republic. In addition to Industry 4.0, it focuses on the resource efficiency of Chinese supply chains and social responsibility of German companies. GAMI is located at Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) near Shanghai, where numerous German industrial companies, as well as 28 top universities from Europe, North America, Australia and Asia are settled.