Don’t do this at home

See the smoke, drink the CO2 – but don’t experiment too much at home. Chemistry students from Aarhus University demonstrate some of their funnier lab techniques – mainly to attract attention to the real CO2 problem.

Chemistry students discover that showing works better than explaining when it comes to getting the public’s attention on science and climate change.

“We have the idea that people who hear all the professors talk about climate change get a bit bored,” says Aarhus University student Dennis Jul who is using solid CO2 to get people excited. “Maybe things like this make them interested.”

NRGi, the main energy distribution company in Århus, hired the ‘Chemistry Show’ to get the visitors’ attention. NRGi sells energy power to 200.000 consumers and makes sure that consumers save power.

“We use a thermo camera to make a picture of the house showing its warmth loss,” says NRGi’s Jacob S. Larsen. “Then we can suggest a change of window isolation.”

Important to have good looking students

Larsen thinks it is very important to draw people’s attention to saving electricity in their homes where they will notice a difference on their bill and more warmth during cold winter nights. However, he added that having good looking students working with interesting chemistry performances at the exhibition helps peak people’s interest in energy saving and science: “We have to make savings more sexy to get people to understand it.”

The exhibition devoted to innovative suggestions for solving climate change wants visitors to know what the host city of a climate conference is doing to reduce its impact on the environment. Beyond Kyoto host city Århus shows off how it will become a leader in climate change by letting the public view the science of CO2 first-hand. The exhibition at the Beyond Kyoto Conference in Århus, is focused on CO2030, the city’s ambitious plan to become a CO2 neutral city by 2030. The City Council is not only planning to build environmentally friendly buildings and use CO2-free light and energy, but also to encourage individuals and businesses to reduce their own CO2 consumption.

The visitors of the exhibition are invited to view some of Denmark’s leading companies and educational institutions presenting their solutions for decreasing the emission of CO2. Århus city council’s contribution is the CO2030 game and exhibition material that focuses on particular areas of the climate plan.

By Monta Neinberga and Anne-Meike van den Berg