Euchems‐Newsletter

The 2nd European Energy Conference (E2C) took place in Maastricht, The Netherlands, from 17 to 20 April. It was organised by the European Science Foundation, the European Materials Research Society and the European Physical Society, under the patronage of Günther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for Energy. About 400 participants from all over the world attended the conference with 40 invited and keynote lectures. The format included plenary morning sessions and afternoon technical symposia on system aspects and sustainability, sciences for energy, primary energy conversion, energy networks and storage and efficient end use of energy.
This biennial conference series is a unique international forum for discussion between academic and industrial scientists working in the areas of chemistry, physics, engineering and biology, also providing opportunities to explore political, economic, social and environmental aspects. Plenary lecturers covered topics as diverse as artificial photosynthesis, innovative automotive solutions, materials for energy production and storage, sustainable cities, with a flavor of international geopolitics as illustrated by Javier Solana.
The road to a sustainable energy system is an extraordinary endeavor involving all fields of science. The European chemical community gave a key contribution to the success of E2C, showing that energy research is the perfect setting for chemistry to fulfill its role as a central science.
Nicola Armaroli, EuCheMS member of the scientific committee of E2C


<h2>Shining a light on solar fuels</h2>
Academic researchers from across Europe joined leading industrialists and policy experts at the Royal Society of Chemistry's discussion meeting on solar fuels in May.
If we are to advance solar fuels research in Europe and the UK we need a coherent strategy. That's the conclusion of the Royal Society of Chemistry's report on solar fuels and artificial photosynthesis, launched at the symposium on 17 May at the Chemistry Centre in London. The aim of the meeting was to raise awareness of the environmental and economic potential of solar fuels and to start a conversation about a coherent strategy for solar fuels research and innovation in the UK and Europe.
Harnessing the sun's energy to produce solar fuels has been identified by the Royal Society of Chemistry and EuCheMS as one of the challenges for the chemical sciences. While the idea of producing solar fuels is around for many decades, there have been fluctuations in the levels of research support and rates of progress. But the field has witnessed significant advances over the last ten to fifteen years which is why the Royal Society of Chemistry has brought together scientists, advisers and policymakers.
Organised in partnership with the UK Global Science and Innovation Network, the meeting brought together academic scientists from the UK, Sweden, France, Germany, Spain, US and Singapore as well as representatives from two of the UK's research funding agencies, the UK Technology Strategy Board, the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter in the Netherlands, and from the European Chemical Industry Federation and Cooperation for Science and Technology in Europe. Also among the 70-strong delegate list were industrialists from Shell, AkzoNobel, Merck, Tata Steel, Johnson Matthey, Cristal Global and representatives from the UK Government Office for Science.
The importance of solar fuels was recognised some time ago by the European Cooperation for Science and Technology (COST) with a collaborative network focused on molecules and molecular devices. COST is now considering a proposal for a new collaborative network dedicated entirely to the photochemical splitting of water using supramolecular catalysis.
Lynsey Thorpe, <a href="mailto:ThorpeL@rsc.org">ThorpeL@rsc.org</a>
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European Energy Conference: International forum for industry and academy

The 2nd European Energy Conference (E2C) took place in Maastricht, The Netherlands, from 17 to 20 April. It was organised by the European Science Foundation, the European Materials Research Society and the European Physical Society, under the patronage of Günther Oettinger, EU Commissioner for En...

On 8 June the Société Chimique de France (SCF) presented its national and bi-national awards 2011 at a solemn meeting held on the scientific campus of the University Claude Bernard Lyon 1.
The Joseph Achille Le Bel Prize rewarded Marc Fontecave, College of France in Paris and Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) in Grenoble, for his work on metalloenzymes leading inter alia to artificial hydrogenases that could provide novel advances in the area of bio-fuel cells.
The Pierre Süe Prize recognised the work of Jean-Marie Tarascon, University of Picardie Jules Verne in Amiens and College of France in Paris, associated with the development of high-performance Lithium-ion batteries.
The French-Italian binational award honoured Maurizio Peruzzini, Institute of Chemistry of Organometallic Compounds of the National Research Council in Florence, for his work in coordination chemistry with the development of new phosphorus ligands which resulted in extensive scientific collaboration in Europe, particularly with several French groups.
Last but not least, the French-British bi-national award was shared by Graham J. Hutchings, Fellow of the Royal Society, University of Cardiff, for his work in heterogeneous catalysis, including his seminal contribution in the use of gold-based catalysts, and Stephen Mann, Fellow of the Royal Society, University of Bristol, for his pioneering work in bio-mineralisation and bio-inspired chemistry. The awardees will hold three lectures within this year in France.
Marie-Claude Vitorge
<a href="mailto:marie-claude.vitorge@societechimiquedefrance.fr">marie-claude.vitorge@societechimiquedefrance.fr</a>


<h2>Award for Service: José Empis</h2>
José Empis was awarded the EuCheMS Award for Service at the ChemPubSoc Europe Meeting in Lisbon on 20 April.
José Empis was a Board member of the Federation of European Chemical Societies (FECS), playing an active role in the transformation of FECS into EuCheMS. He became the first treasurer of EuCheMS and efficiently organised this activity.
For many years he was also a Portuguese delegate to the Working Party on Food Chemistry (later Food Chemistry Division), helping to create a European community in this discipline, resulting in increased levels of international scientific collaboration and successful conferences. He also represented his country as a delegate to the food area R&amp;D Committee for the 6th and 7th EU Framework Programmes and as a member of both the EU Standing Committee on Agricultural Research and the Board of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies.
In all his European activities and responsibilities he always maintained a strong focus on achieving the strategic aims of EuCheMS and improving European cooperation in chemistry.
Prior to his retirement from the Technical University of Lisbon, José Empis worked in the areas of food processing, preservation and ingredient-quality, and also the development of novel foods and ingredients. He was President of the Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e das Pescas from 2002 to 2006.
Luis Oro, <a href="mailto:oro@unizar.es">oro@unizar.es</a>


<h2>Marc Taillefer wins European Sustainable Chemistry Award</h2>
Marc Taillefer has been chosen as the laureate of the European Sustainable Chemistry Award 2012. Taillefer heads a research team at the Institut Charles Gerhardt in Montpellier, France, and is also vice-president and chairman of the Organic Chemistry Division of the Société Chimique de France.
The 51 year-old chemist is being recognised for his seminal contribution to the field of homogeneously catalysed coupling reactions leading to C-C, C-N, C-O and C-P bonds. Those ”Ullmann type arylations”, catalysed by copper and iron complexes, avoid the use of more expensive catalysts based on palladium. Since 2001, Taillefer's group discoveries have been protected by more than 25 patents and are in use at the industrial level for producing fine chemicals.
The European Sustainable Chemistry Award was launched by EuCheMS in 2010. This has been encouraged by the European Environment Agency and supported by the European Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) and the European Chemical Industry Association (Cefic). The European Sustainable Chemistry Award is intended to raise the profile of sustainable chemistry and be a spur to innovation and competitiveness.
The Award is designed to recognise individuals or small research groups which make an outstanding contribution to sustainable development by applying green and sustainable chemistry and promote innovation in chemistry and chemicals that will deliver clear improvements in the sustainable production and use of chemicals and chemical products. The awardees demonstrate that chemistry and chemicals can play a central role in delivering society's needs, while minimizing and solving environmental problems.
Marc Taillefer succeeds the German chemist Matthias Beller, the first laureate 2010. The Award was presented at the opening ceremony of the 4th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress in Prague on 26 August. ks
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European Energy Conference: International forum for industry and academy

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