The Department of Chemical Engineering’s Sustainability Committee has been formed to put into practice its commitment to achieving Net Zero goals by analysing and reducing the carbon footprint of the department. Once it has identified key areas for improvement, it will work with teams across the department and the college to introduce and support more sustainable practices. To learn more about Imperial’s wider Sustainability Strategy please visit the Sustainable Imperial website. 

Their key focal points will be:

  • Carbon footprint boundaries and scoping
  • Quantifying annual carbon emissions
  • Informing a carbon mitigation plan 

The committee has been working closely with the Estates team, Finance, and the Department’s Services and Safety Manager to gather data on energy usage and departmental travel. Our initial carbon footprint findings have been published as a paper. 

The data falls into three scopes:

Scope 1: Emissions that happen on the premises
Scope 2: Emissions associated with electricity consumption and heat consumption for heating the building
Scope 3: All other emissions, for example those generated by commuting and business travel

Following the completion of their study they will outline key recommendations to reduce the carbon emissions generated by the Committee.

Membership and ToRs

Membership
  • Co-leads: Professor Omar Matar (Head of Department) and Dr Salvador Acha
  • Net Zero Strategy Specialists: Dr Jasmin Cooper and Dr Semra Bakkaloglu
  • Sustainability advisors: Professor Nilay Shah and Professor Benoit Chachuat
  • Lab Sustainability advisors: Dr Ronny Pini, Dr Anna Hankin, and Dr Umang Shah
  • Sustainability Initiatives Coordinators: Avery Kitchens and Jessica Baldock
  • Department Services and Safety Manager: Perminder Amrit
  • Energy demand analyst: Max Bird
  • Communications and Marketing representatives: Navta Hussain and Skyla Morrison
  • Non-academic representatives
  • Postgraduate and undergraduate representatives
Terms of Reference (ToRs)
  • To identify and connect with internal and external stakeholders critical to success (e.g. Estates, Safety, Campus Services, ICT, academics, students, education, research)
  • To map out Departmental carbon streams and quantify carbon emissions
  • To support data collection and engagement across the Department and College
  • To create a virtuous cycle that sustains the sustainability agenda
  • To identify barriers and resources needed from stakeholders in the Department to support the sustainability plan