World-renowned scholars and researchers engaged in interdisciplinary dialogue on the challenges and prospects of next-generation energy development and applications at the HK Tech Forum on Carbon Neutrality and Sustainable Environment, hosted by Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy and Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) from 5 to 8 October.
This is the fourth forum in the HK Tech Forum series, which was initiated by President Way Kuo of CityU. The focus is on tackling the urgent issue of transitioning to clean and renewable energy in the face of climate and environmental crises.
At the opening ceremony on 5 October, President Kuo extended a warm welcome to the participants, saying experts from around the world would be sharing their latest scientific findings on innovative solar and nuclear technologies in clean energy development, stable and reliable battery technologies, smart energy saving and grid technologies, issues related to creating a sustainable environment, and so forth.
Attending the opening ceremony, Professor Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR Government, said "This forum provides a good opportunity for policy makers, academics and industrial partners to leverage expertise in harnessing clean energy and improving energy efficiency and strive a balance between energy transition and economic development."
Professor Alex Jen Kwan-yue, Director of the Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy and Lee Shau Kee Chair Professor of Materials Science at CityU, and the Chair of this fourth HK Tech Forum on Carbon Neutrality and Sustainable Environment, encouraged all to "join us as frontrunners and be part of the community push to increase our sustainability efforts and cut our carbon footprint".
Other guests attending the ceremony included Professor Wong Yuk-shan, Chairman of Research Grants Council, Ms Rebecca Pun Ting-ting, Commissioner for Innovation and Technology, HKSAR Government, Ir Harry Lai Hon-chung, Principal Advisor/Carbon Neutrality, Electrical & Mechanical Services Department, HKSAR Government, Mr Roger Chen, Senior Director- Nuclear, CLP Holdings Limited and Ms Elizabeth Tai, Director, Corporate Affairs (Business Operations), CLP Power Hong Kong Limited.
The first day of the forum began with a featured talk by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs of Columbia University, US, and recipient of the 2022 Tang Prize on Sustainable Development for Leading Transdisciplinary Sustainability Science. The topic of his talk was "Geopolitics and Achieving Carbon Neutrality".
The four-day forum features more than a dozen keynote lectures by distinguished academics on a wide range of topics, including recent developments in photovoltaics (PV), the pathway towards highly efficient and highly stable PV technology, nanotechnology for global carbon-neutral transformation, and photocatalytic water splitting for solar hydrogen production, nuclear batteries as a new way in energy.
In addition, a pre-forum panel discussion explored the topic "Opportunities in Achieving Carbon Neutrality in Hong Kong".
Six forums in the HK Tech Forum series will be held in the second half of 2022, and there are plans to expand the series into 2023 and beyond. The next forum, on quantum physics and complex systems, will be held from 7 to 9 December.
HK Tech Forum Series
https://www.cityu.edu.hk/hktechforum/