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UROŠ NOVAK, December 2021

At the end of the year we showed two exhibitions, this time organized by Dr. Uroš Novak from the Department of Catalysis and Chemical Reaction Engineering:

  • HYDROGEN CENTER TRAVELING EXHIBITION: GREEN FUTURE WITH HYDROGEN

The traveling exhibition as a traveling laboratory shows the pioneering achievements of the H₂GreenTECH project partners in the field of hydrogen technologies and at the same time promotes the understanding of hydrogen among young people.

One of the priorities of society and individuals in the cross-border Interreg region Slovenia - Austria is to contribute to a healthy lifestyle, sustainable, green and circular economy. This can be achieved by supporting cooperation and integration in research and development.

The H₂GreenTECH partners contribute to the transition to a low-carbon society and sustainable energy solutions with their innovative technological developments in the field of research and development of hydrogen technologies and the production and use of hydrogen.

The positive impact of the use of hydrogen and hydrogen technologies is reflected in various areas, such as sustainable mobility (fuel cells), electricity generation (renewable energy sources) and heating use.

The traveling exhibition will also be on display in Maribor, Ljubljana, Villach, Graz and Pinkafeld.

  • CIRCULAR, LOW CARBON, INNOVATIVE: New Biomaterials, by Dr. Uroš Novak & Scientists Against Plastic.


The exhibition presents a vision for a lifestyle without plastic and waste.
The traditional opposition between "nature" and "culture" is problematic for a number of reasons, but there is one reason that is not mentioned. The dualism between "nature" and "culture" leaves out an entire area that belongs to neither: the world of trash. The mountains of garbage we produce every year, the streams of polluting sewage, millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases, a new cosmos of microplastics proliferating in our oceans - none of this has ever been included under culture. Of all the products of human hands, this is a work that no one wants to own, discuss, or perhaps even see. At the same time, it can no longer be assimilated with nature, just as the wastes of human civilization were millennia before the Industrial Revolution. This new, improved waste is incompatible with the earth - too many synthetic chemicals, too long-lasting, too harmful, and ultimately present in too large quantities.

Rather than asking ourselves if life without waste is possible, we have taken inspiration from nature and developed solutions that mimic the natural cycle of resources. Plastic is not an isolated problem that we can banish from our lives, but simply the most visible product of uncontrolled consumption over the last half century.

The problem seems easy to understand, because the things made of perishable materials that people buy and throw away are the ones we need to replace, and each of us can contribute.

A team of anti-plastics scientists working at the National Institute of Chemistry, led by Dr. Uroš Novak, aims to bring innovation and knowledge about bioplastics and waste-free technologies to society and businesses.

Photos:

Photo: Andrej Perdih

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