Climate Cafe- Are plant-based materials the future?

This café aims to assess if we can replace unsustainable materials like cement and oil-based plastics with ones from plants, in our journey towards net zero 2045.

Carola Calcagno and David Cleverley of Glenalmond Timber, Perth, will discuss the environmental advantages of using wood to build flats and offices. They will discuss the developments in cross laminated structures, changes in fire prevention standards, and methods of extending the life of wood cladding.

If you have ever wondered what happens to trainers that almost everybody now wares, look in landfill sites and Incinerator intakes. The video we will show explains how sawdust can be infected with mycelium of fungi, to grow leather like material, that can be moulded into shoes. At end of life, these can be shredded for composting or anaerobic digestion.

Professor Davide Dionisi, of the University of Aberdeen, will outline his fermentation system for converting organic wastes to PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates) to make biodegradable plastics, which can be refermented into new products at their end of life. He intends to develop a working facility which can further produce organic acids, renewable fuels, hydrogen and other renewable chemicals.

The three short presentations presentations will be followed by a Q&A to the two speakers and be you chance to find out more on the subject.

Host or Publisher Aberdeen Climate Action