On May 21, Wang Zhonglin, foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor of the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was invited to Nankai University conferences New Energy – Lectures of Excellence and Lectures on Chemistry – Dedicated to the 100^th Anniversary of the Discipline of Chemistry of Nankai University. He talked about the “blue energy” meant for the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2060.

Chen Jun, Vice President of Nankai University, awarded Academician Wang Zhonglin with the honorary certificate of New Energy – Lectures of Excellence.

Academician Wang Zhonglin was also awarded with a commemorative medal by a head of the College of Chemistry for the Lectures on Chemistry – Dedicated to the 100^th Anniversary of the Discipline of Chemistry of Nankai University.

The lecture was titled From high-entropy energy in the era of the Internet of Things to carbon-neutral blue energy. Academician Wang Zhonglin presented a brand-new power generation technology to teachers and students, which not only can provide distributed energy in the Internet of Things, but also can collect “blue energy” in the ocean and thus contributes to the goal of carbon neutrality. He pointed out that in the long run, one of the fundamental ways to reduce the use of fossil energy and achieve carbon neutrality is to harness the abundant and clean “blue energy” contained in the ocean, including wave energy and tidal energy.

Nankai University's New Energy Science and Engineering is among the first new engineering majors recognized by the Ministry of Education of the PRC. The establishment of this special major represents an effort to develop a system of “new engineering” in the new era of Nankai University. It was jointly established by the College of Chemistry and the College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, with major features special training methods such as tutorial system, small classes, and international programs, aiming to cultivate senior professionals in the field of new energy.

Lectures on Chemistry – Dedicated to the 100^th Anniversary of the Discipline of Chemistry of Nankai University is one of the important celebratory activities for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the discipline of chemistry of Nankai University. The forum invites well-known scholars at home and abroad to hold high-level academic lectures, facilitating the development of Nankai's chemistry discipline.

(Reported by Wei Xie, photographed by Qiu Zhang, translated by Junlin He, edited by Davide Francolino and JianjingYun)