Organizer: Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University; Department of Systems Engineering at Cornell Engineering
Type/Location: In Person / Ithaca, NY
Description:
Human activities have led to a global surface temperature rise of 1.1°C compared to preindustrial levels as of the end of 2020. As one of the greenhouse gases, methane concentrations surged to 1911.8 parts per billion in 2022, more than double the preindustrial levels. Due to its short atmospheric lifetime, methane emerged as a key topic at COP26 for its ability to rapidly mitigate global warming. This talk addresses a gap in global analysis by exploring how enhanced solid waste management can mitigate warming and support the achievement of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5° and 2°C targets, along with the commitments outlined in the Global Methane Pledge. With global solid waste generation expected to reach 2.56 to 3.33 billion tonnes by 2050, the greenhouse gas emissions from the global municipal solid waste system are forecasted under a business-as-usual scenario using Bayesian-optimized artificial neural networks, and their reduction potential is assessed. We found that abrupt technical and behavioral changes could lead to a net-zero warming solid waste system, leading to 11 to 27 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide warming-equivalent emissions under the temperature limits. However, these changes necessitate rapid adoption within nine to 17 years to align with the Global Methane Pledge.
About the Speaker:
Vincent Woon is dedicated to achieving transformative resilience in climate sustainability by advancing the complex understanding of the environment-economic-social nexus. Named a 2023 I&ECR Class of Influential Researcher by the American Chemical Society, he has published over 70 refereed articles for the past five years, including Science as the corresponding author. His research work has been featured in Future Earth, The Guardian, China Science Daily, and Anthropocene Magazine. Before entering academia, he worked at Accenture and led green architectural designs for new mega townships in Malaysia and Indonesia. He is the Global Development Network Outstanding Research on Development First Prize Awardee (2021), a Fulbright YSEALI Fellow (2021), a CrossCulture Programme Fellow (2021), a UNFCCC-GIR-CASTT Fellow (2022), a SUSI Scholar (2023), a Professional Technologist certified by the Malaysia Board of Technologists, an Accredited Green Building Professional, and a member of both the Global Young Academy and the Young Scientist Network Academy of Sciences Malaysia. He earned his Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology through the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme. He is currently an assistant professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) and an adjunct associate professor at Xiamen University Malaysia.
Registration:
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