A large-scale energy transition of society requires efficient electrochemical processes for generating, converting, and storing sustainable energy. Unfortunately, existing electrochemical processes have serious limitations and are inadequate to meet the grand challenges ahead. At present there is insufficient knowledge of the processes occurring in electrochemical systems at the smallest scale to fundamentally improve these processes. In this multidisciplinary fundamental research program, chemists and physicists lay the foundation for new efficient electrochemical technologies designed to dramatically reduce humanitys carbon footprint.

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Wiskundige vergelijkingen worden gebruikt om allerlei dagdagelijkse fenomenen te modelleren. Deze vergelijkingen zijn vaak erg gecompliceerd en uitdagend om op te lossen. In dit projectvoorstel zullen wiskundigen nieuwe methodes ontwikkelen om zulke vergelijkingen snel en nauwkeurig op te lossen met een computer, en ze gebruiken in concrete toepassingsgebieden. Mathematical equations are used to model many important phenomena. These equations are often complicated and challenging to solve. In this proposal, mathematicians will develop new strategies for solving such equations efficiently and accurately on a computer, and apply them to real-world problems.

Humans have strongly influenced the chemical composition of the global atmosphere primarily by the burning of organic material. The mix of gases and particles that is emitted depends strongly on the burning conditions, in particular the combustion efficiency. Despite its importance, regional variations and trends in combustion efficiency remain poorly quantified, and are a major factor limiting the accuracy of global anthropogenic emissions inventories. Our aim is to develop a new method for mapping the global distribution of burning efficiency using satellite measurements. In this project, we make use of total column densities of NO2 and CO from the new TROPOMI satellite instrument, to be launched in August this year. The ratio of these compounds is not only an excellent proxy of burning conditions, but can also be used to improve the quantification of the NOx lifetime in pollution plumes. TROPOMI is exceptionally well suited for this, as it measures both compounds with excellent spatial resolution, global coverage, and similar vertical sensitivity. Using the meso-scale chemistry and transport model WRF-CHEM, we avoid the long averaging times that are needed in many existing methods for quantifying local emissions of NOx and CO from satellite data. Thus, it becomes feasible to study the seasonal dynamics of emission ratios in biomass burning. Yet, our method is efficient enough for application to large data volumes. Its value for monitoring the burning conditions in urban environments and biomass burning will increase with additional years of data from TROPOMI and follow on missions.

Ocean plastic pollution is an environmental problem of increasing magnitude, yet the total amount of plastic in the marine realm is much lower than expected. On land, some fungi can break down plastics, but the ability of marine fungi to degrade plastic has not been investigated. Using a novel approach, I isolated a marine fungus and showed that it utilizes plastic for growth and energy gain, and I hypothesize that this ability is more widespread among marine fungi. I aim at confirming our hypothesis by investigating fungi in mangroves, which are hot spot marine ecosystems for marine fungi.