Power to X: Fundamentals and Applications of Modern Electrosynthesis

Frontier research in the field of electrosynthesis which includes CO2 conversion, ammonia synthesis, organic electrosynthesis, and water splitting.

The so-called Energy Transition denotes the fundamental change of the current energy use that is still based to a large extend on fossil and nuclear sources toward “renewables” such as solar, hydro and wind power. A major technological challenge in context of this paradigm shift is related to the highly discontinuous production of electricity in particular from wind and solar sources thus causing tremendous stability issues to the entire power supply system (grid). Therefore various energy storage/conversion technologies are currently being developed which are intended to stabilize the grid by buffering the surplus of such “renewable” electricity as well as to enable more delocalized energy schemes. Various electrosynthesis approaches are currently considered as promising alternatives/supplements to the classical battery approaches, which have limited capacity. The basic idea behind these schemes is not only the (temporary) storage of electricity in form of added-value chemicals, e.g. high energy density fuels, but also a new paradigm to produce chemical feedstock from abundant resources (power-to-X approach).

Speakers
• Prof. Javier Pérez-Ramírez (ETHZ, Switzerland)
• Prof. Yang Shao-Horn (MIT, USA)
• Prof. Ib Chorkendorff (DTU, Denmark)
• Prof. Sigfried Waldvogel (University of Mainz, Germany)
• Prof. Thomas Wirth (University of Cardiff, UK)
• Dr. Günter Schmidt (Siemens, Germany)
• Dr. Daniel Egger (Climeworks, Switzerland)
• Prof. Hans Geerlings (Shell Technology Centre, Netherlands)
• Prof. Soma Vestergom (University of Budapest, Hungary)
• Prof. Simon Thiele (University of Erlangen, Germany)

Course leader

Organizing Institution
• University of Bern
• Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen / Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research (SCCER) Heat and Electricity Storage

Organizing committee (Course leader)
• Prof. Dr. Matthias Arenz, University of Bern,

Target group

PhD students, Post-doctoral associates and industrial researchers. Participants are encouraged to present a poster of their research. There will be ample opportunity for discussion between participants and speakers.

Course aim

This International Summer School aims at providing an overview about the status quo in the current electrosynthesis research relevant to this energy transition. Possible starting materials of this (catalytic) electrosynthesis approaches might be, but are not restricted to, CO2, N2, H2O and even more complex organic reactants. Not only fundamentals of these electroconversion processes shall be discussed but also concepts how to implement them into current and future industrial applications. For this purpose internationally renowned researchers from academia as well as industry present their work. During the whole Summer School there will be plenty of room for exchange and discussions.

Credits info

2.5 EC
A poster presentation is a mandatory prerequisite to obtain 2.5 ECTS credit points for the summer school. The best three posters will be awarded by 400.00 EUR (first prize) and 350.00 EUR (second and third prize, respectively).
Please provide the title of your poster during the registration.

Fee info

CHF 600: Fee: between CHF 600.00 and CHF 1’500.00 (depends on host university/employer). See details on official website
600 CHF for students and collaborators from the universities of Bern and Zürich (members of the PhD program).

The registration fee includes full board accommodation, conference dinner, and teaching material.
CHF 1500: Participants from industry.