Green Carbon co-organizes 17th International Clostridium Conference

http://qibebt.cas.cn/news/zyxw/202409/t20240922_7378447.html

From September 19th to 22nd, the 17th International Clostridium Conference was held in Qingdao, hosted by the International Clostridium Conference Organizing Committee, supported by the Bioenergy Research Laboratory of Qingdao Institute of Energy, the Key Laboratory of Solar Photovoltaic Conversion and Utilization, Shandong Energy Research Institute, and Qingdao New Energy Shandong Provincial Laboratory, and co-organized by the One Carbon Biotechnology Research Center and Green Carbon Editorial Department.

Since 1990, the International Clostridium Conference has been held every two years, and this Clostridium Conference is the second time to be held in China. On the afternoon of the 19th, the executive chairman of the conference, Researcher Li Fuli, director of the One Carbon Biotechnology Research Center, announced the opening of the conference. Director Lv Xuefeng delivered a speech on behalf of the Qingdao Institute of Energy and introduced the construction and development of the institute to the delegates.

This conference invited about 150 scholars and guests from domestic and foreign academic and business circles to attend the conference, including more than 50 foreign experts from Germany, the United States, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom, Italy and other countries. The conference was divided into four parts according to the topic direction: physiology and systems biology, genetics and synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and raw material utilization, industry and new applications. More than 40 oral speakers shared the latest research results with the participants, discussed future research directions, and exchanged problems and challenges encountered in Clostridium research and industrialization engineering.

As a valuable platform for scientific exchange and cooperation, this conference will further promote the development of Clostridium research. At the same time, the successful holding of this conference is of great significance to enhancing the influence of the institute in the field of Clostridium research. (Text/Photo by Ma Xiaoqing)

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Gold recovery from waste liquid without chemicals

https://j.people.com.cn/n3/2026/0717/c95952-20478766.html

https://pubs.acs.org/jacsat/article/148/28/29854/5203821/Selective-Gold-Recovery-via-Thermally-Generated?searchresult=1

A new technology recovers gold from waste liquid using naturally occurring micro-droplets at the oil-water interface, simply by moderately heating the oil-water system—without the addition of any reducing agents, adsorbents, or catalysts.

The technology was developed by a team from the China University of Petroleum in Qingdao, in collaboration with researchers from Stanford University.

Drawing on their previous research into geological fluids—where they discovered that large numbers of chemically active micro-droplets are generated at oil-water interfaces under high-temperature conditions—the team formulated a bold hypothesis: “Could we selectively extract gold from complex waste liquids simply by utilizing the chemical properties of these micro-droplets?”

To test this, the team constructed a heat-driven oil-water interfacial reaction system. Moderate heating causes the continuous formation of micro-droplets (5–50 micrometers in diameter) at the oil-water interface. These droplets function like micro-reactors with high redox activity, continuously generating active species such as highly active electrons, hydrogen radicals, and hydroxyl radicals. This process enables the reduction of gold ions in the solution to elemental gold without the need for external reducing agents, catalysts, or adsorbents; furthermore, the coalescence and growth of these micro-droplets allow for the formation of millimeter-sized gold particles.

The study also elucidated the chemical mechanism by which the interfacial micro-droplets selectively recover gold. Experiments demonstrated gold recovery rates of 98.5% from complex aqua regia waste liquid and 97.0% from electronic waste leachate. The recovery time was further reduced through heating and cooling cycles, and a recovery efficiency of over 90% was maintained even when the oil phase was reused. In a scale-up experiment, 500 milliliters of gold-containing leachate were processed to yield 0.5657 grams of solid product. The gold achieved a purity of 99.4%, demonstrating high potential for application as an environmentally friendly technology for recovering precious metals from complex acidic wastewater.

An offshore platform for coastal ecosystem research near Qingdao

https://en.people.cn/n3/2026/0711/c90000-20476703.html

China put into operation a large offshore platform for controlled in-situ experiments regarding coastal ecosystems. Developed by the CAS Institute of Oceanology (IOCAS), the facility is deployed in the Yellow Sea off Rongcheng in Shandong Province.

With a total area of 2,000 square meters and an experimental sea zone of 30,000 square meters, the platform is designed to support a wide range of ecological studies under real marine conditions. Under real seawater conditions, key factors such as temperature, nutrients and dissolved oxygen can be precisely regulated, enabling continuous, full-cycle observation and breaking the technical barrier between natural-sea observation and indoor controlled experiments.

The platform comprises modules for automated monitoring, water regulation, mesocosm ecosystems and logistics support. It enables precise single-factor or multi-factor regulation of temperature, nutrients, dissolved oxygen and other variables, allowing researchers to reproduce scenarios like ocean warming, acidification and eutrophication in a real marine environment. This capability is crucial for understanding how coastal ecosystems respond to both gradual climate trends and extreme events.

China’s coastal waters, where most marine economic activities and ports are concentrated, are hotspots for ecological disasters and risks. These waters, notably, are under mounting stress from climate change, land-based inputs and human activities. The new lab is located in a typical mariculture area of northern China, offering conditions for both natural and farmed ecosystem studies. Researchers can conduct scenario experiments on carrying capacity, ecological resilience, marine heatwaves and hypoxia to identify risk thresholds and optimize aquaculture management. Beyond serving the aquaculture industry, it can provide technical support for disaster prevention, precision restoration and coastal health management, said Sun.

The platform is designed for open international collaboration and will be made available to global research institutions, facilitating joint efforts to tackle pressing marine environmental challenges.

Photo: An aerial drone photo taken on July 10, 2026 shows the large offshore platform for controlled in-situ experiments on coastal ecosystems after being deployed in the Yellow Sea off Rongcheng in east China’s Shandong Province. China on Friday put into operation a large offshore platform for controlled in-situ experiments regarding coastal ecosystems, marking a new phase of systematic, intelligent and open coastal ecological research in the country. Developed by the Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IOCAS), the facility is deployed in the Yellow Sea off Rongcheng in east China’s Shandong Province. It is the country’s largest open-access facility for in-situ coastal experiments, the IOCAS said. (IOCAS/Handout via Xinhua)

Green Carbon journal reaches impact factor 14.2 in less than 3 years

https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/green-carbon

Green Carbon has received its first Impact Factor of 14.2 in the 2025 Journal Citation Reports (JCR) released by Clarivate on June 17, 2026. This places Green Carbon in Q1 in both the “Engineering, Chemical” category (Ranked 10/183) and the “Green & Sustainable Science & Technology” category (Ranked 8/114). Achieving this in less than three years since its launch is a testament to the journal’s academic quality, rigorous publishing standards, and growing international influence.

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