A Queen’s researcher is exploring how chemistry can turn a problem into a resource.
Cao Thang Dinh, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Canada Research Chair in Sustainable Fuels and Chemicals, leads the Dinh lab, which focuses on capturing carbon dioxide and converting it into practical products like fuels and industrial chemicals. The team’s work aims to reduce emissions and improve methods for long-term energy storage.
“We can turn electricity into chemicals,” Dinh said in an interview with The Journal. “Then we can store and use them when we need. That’s how we can make renewable energy more effective.”
By using renewable energy to transform captured carbon dioxide into useful compounds, the lab aims to reduce industrial dependence on fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide, a byproduct of industrial processes and a major greenhouse gas, remains one of the main drivers of climate change, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
As the effects of climate change become increasingly visible, many Canadians report feelings of climate anxiety. Dinh hopes his research will offer a sense of hope by showing how scientific innovation can contribute to practical solutions.
Dinh explained that several startups are working to scale up industrial applications using captured carbon dioxide, including CO₂Itech, a company founded at Queen’s. The startup focuses on converting carbon dioxide into products like ethylene—the building block of plastics that could eventually enable carbon-negative manufacturing.
“If we can make the precursors for plastics from carbon dioxide instead of fossil fuels, we could create carbon-negative materials,” Dinh said. Dinh trained in petroleum refining before immigrating to Canada from Vietnam nearly two decades ago. Witnessing the growing effects of climate change, from flooding in Southeast Asia to wildfires in Canada, motivates him to focus on sustainable energy technologies.
“The impacts of climate change are real and happening now,” Dinh said. “As a professor, I focus on what I can do—and that’s researching technologies that I believe can help fight climate change.”
Although policies and incentives can support adoption, Dinh believes the long-term success of these technologies depends on making them more affordable and efficient. According to Dinh, electricity remains the largest cost in carbon-conversion processes, but as renewable energy becomes cheaper, he expects the technology to become increasingly feasible.
He also noted that students can make a meaningful impact by getting involved in research. Joining a lab and learning about clean-energy research, he said, is a valuable way to contribute.
Dinh acknowledges that widespread adoption will take time but remains optimistic. “Progress can seem slow, but it’s happening,” he said. “There’s a lot of good clean technology work in Canada, and I’m hopeful.”
Tags
Climate change, Engineering, Sustainability
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.