About this website

This is the space where I share information with friends and other people that I don't know yet. As not so many people know about this website and I haven’t had an awful lot of time to fill it with content, I'm sure you will content yourself with a few pictures on my Photos page and you'll also see a growing list of my favourite websites on the Links page.

About me

I have completed my MSci Chemistry degree at Imperial College London and now want to pursue a career promoting my key interest: Solar Energy. That’s why my master’s project was on perylenebisimides, a molecular n-type semiconductor used in organic solar cells. With the global climate on the verge of collapse and with future generations in mind, I believe it’s a moral as well as social obligation to preserve the world’s environment and resources and to live in a way that is 100% sustainable. Renewable energies play a key part in achieving this, as they are a virtually unlimited source of energy; and given an unlimited amount of energy, any physical or chemical process becomes achievable.

Solar energy and storage

Of all the renewable energies (Hydropower, Solar, Wind, Biomass, Wave, Geothermal, Tidal, etc.), I favour solar, especially direct solar energy because it stands out as the most abundant. Covering five of the world's deserts with a 250km×250km square of solar cells each at currently available efficiencies would be enough to power the whole world. However, there are two problems that still need to be solved: one is politico-economic (and it's probably the biggest), whilst the other one, energy storage, can be and is being solved by scientists and engineers.

Solar cells generate electricity when the sun shines, but what can we do at night when it doesn’t? Or when the wind doesn't blow onto our windmills? We need to store the energy somehow. Pumping water up a mountain is one way and compressing air is another, but probably the most useful way is to store it in the chemical bonds of a fuel, such as Hydrogen or even a carbon based fuel such as Methanol. Again, many methods of doing this exist already, however efficiencies are still low and thus the economic incentive –the bigger problem– is missing. Solar catalysis and artificial photosynthesis have the potential to transform solar energy to chemical bonds in a direct, efficient process using cheap materials, a highly interesting and active area in research.

Hobbies

My favourite pastime is music: I play the tenor saxophone and I conduct and sing in several choirs regularly. I am a Bahá’í which means that I am part of the Bahá'í-Faith, a world religion that aims to unite the world in a peaceful and harmonious way. In the words of its founder:

“The world is but one country and mankind its citizens.” - Bahá’u’lláh (1817 – 1893)

One of my reasons for being a Bahá’í is to help address the socio-economic problem that is holding back the advancement of renewable energies. The Bahá’í teachings can help transform us individually as well as our society: We need to realise that as human beings we are all living on the same planet and we need to learn to be moral and friendly towards each other, if we are not to self-destruct ourselves or to destroy our planet. When we realise this and let go of egoistic and nationalistic ideals, it will soon be apparent that the way to satisfy the whole world’s material is via renewable energy.

“The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.” - Bahá’u’lláh