Barbara Capone előadása (2016. 10. 06.)

Barbara Capone (fizikus) APART Fellow, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Computational Physics, University of Vienna

Sustainable development is one of the most ambitious goals of modern society. International politics is aiming at the design and realisation of sustainable cities, and latest technological developments are, day after day, heading in such a direction. Nevertheless, while on the one side modern cities are being designed, projected and realised, a huge part of the world wide population lives in emergency situations, e.g. without access to energy or water sanitation. In such a framework, the implementation of existing technologies and the design of novel materials in the direction of renewable energies, water sanitation and energy storage is an ambitious goal that, as scientists and in particular as material physicists, we felt the urge of pursuing. In this talk we will present the work of Sunshine4Palestine (S4P), an NGO funded by a group of physicists and engineers whose aim is finding solution to water and energy emergency situation. S4P is active of the realisation of a photovoltaic plant on a hospital in Gaza, Palestine. Previously to the intervention of the NGO, the hospital could only operate 4 hours a day, due to the energy shortages that are affecting the strip. After the installation of the S4P designed PV plant, the structure is operating 17 hours a day, with an increase of about 175% of the total patients treated, with peaks of 500% in sectors as the obstetric department. Parallel to the implementation projects, that are currently seeing the photovoltaic conversion of the water distribution system - for both domestic and agricultural purposes - in rural areas in Gaza that are only receiving water for a few hours per week due to energy shortages, the NGO is developing different research lines. As part of an international consortium made of 10 universities and industrial partners - S4P is aiming at designing novel nanomaterials for a sustainable water sanitation. Moreover the NGO is dedicating a big effort in an outreach activity by both building up a know-how transfer in every intervention areas by forming local teams of technicians, and by carrying on a both an academic scientific exchange and a divulgation project that is involving universities and schools both in the West Bank and in Gaza.