W&M Featured Events
[PAST EVENT] The Spring 2022 Tack Faculty Lecture, “Pumping Iron for Renewable Fuels,” by William McNamara
Location
Sadler Center, Commonwealth Auditorium200 Stadium Dr
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location
Access & Features
- Open to the public
- Registration/RSVP
The development of clean and sustainable energy is one of the most pressing issues facing humanity today. William McNamara, Wilson & Martha Claiborne Stephens Associate Professor of Chemistry at William & Mary, will share his expertise in renewable energy and demonstrate how solar fuels are being generated at W&M in the spring 2022 Tack Faculty Lecture, “Pumping Iron for Renewable Fuels,” on April 27 at 7 p.m. at the Sadler Center’s Commonwealth Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public and attendees are asked to RSVP.
McNamara was inspired by photosynthesis, the way nature uses sunlight as an energy source, so he set his sights on developing a way to harness and store solar energy as a chemical fuel compatible with our current energy infrastructure. His “bio-inspired” approach starts with sunlight and ends with hydrogen gas and potable water. McNamara and his students are working on creating clean, efficient and cost-effective ways to harvest the sun’s energy. Much like in nature, their system converts sunlight into fuel through a series of chemical processes. The team uses fluorescein to harvest sunlight, which powers an enzyme-inspired, iron-based catalytic reaction that generates hydrogen gas from water.
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