CSP Investigator Paul Dauenhauer was featured on PBS NewsHour for his work turning biomass — like wood and plants — to engineer renewable chemicals that are essential to the production of widely-used materials from plastics to rubber-based products.
As the article states, Dauenhauer was recently named one of 21 MacArthur fellows and has dedicated his career to revolutionizing materials that we rely on most. The products many of us purchase on a regular basis — the water bottles, clothes and, perhaps especially in the era of COVID, take-out containers from our local restaurants — are often plastic, disposable and bound to outlive us for generations. But the enormous amount of plastic waste that humans leave behind is a logistical and ecological nightmare, and experts say potential solutions must be approached from multiple angles, both for the planet’s sake and for our own.
Dauenhauer spoke to the PBS NewsHour about the major challenges we face when it comes to fully pivoting away from fossil fuels, and how he and his colleagues are working to engineer sustainable solutions that benefit consumers, manufacturers and our planet.
Read the full article and Q & A on PBS.
Photo credit PBS NewsHour