On Thursday 7th April our PKU students visited the University of Oxford’s Chemistry Lab at the University Science Park in Yarnton.
The visit started by introducing us to OXCCU, a company formed in 2021 by a group of chemists and engineers from the University of Oxford. The vision of OXCCU is to deliver a truly Circular Economy for fuels, chemicals, and plastics. The demand for truly sustainable fuels and chemicals is growing every year. Thus the goal of OXCCU is to attract the world’s leading chemists and chemical engineers to develop their carbon-dioxide-free technology to produce plastics and other net-zero products to the world.
On our arrival we were met by Dr. Tiancun Xiao, Founder and Managing Director of OXCCU and Professor Peter Edwards, Founder and Board Director of OXCCU. We were then taken to the Blenheim Room and was given a presentation on OXCCU. We learnt how OXCCU could play a major role in helping to reduce the global impact on emissions though limiting carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For example, using CO2 and hydrogen to create jet fuel, where the hydrogen comes from water processed by renewable energy, and the carbon-dioxide-free fuel is used as material to produce plastics.
Professor Peter Edwards explained how they developed the technology to combine CO2 from the air with H2 from water and renewable electricity to make fuels, chemicals, and biodegradable plastic. He explained how OXCCU is currently in the process of developing inexpensive catalysts with high efficiency and selectivity, transforming CO2 into valuable hydrocarbons.
During the visit, PKU students learnt the latest technology innovated by these leading University of Oxford scientists to turn carbon dioxide into an incredibly useful material for production of new plastics and aviation fuel. OXCCU hope that their innovative technology can be considered by PKU students in their business research projects, particularly in assessing the significance of their carbon-free-technology in producing plastics for the global economy.
At the end of the presentation the students eagerly asked numerous questions and were very enthusiastic to know more on helping the environment and providing cleaner energy for our world.
[Reported by Jacqueline O’Brien, and edited by Guy Liu]
