The sustainability energy is eternal topic in the 21st century. Prof. Yi-Heng Percival Zhang concluded that carbohydrate was the best energy storage compound, replacing crude oil. He proposed an electricity-carbohydrate-hydrogen (ECHo) cycle bridging among primary energies and secondary energies in our biology building hall on November 27. Prof. Zongbao K. Zhao hosted his lectures. Prof. Zhongmin Liu, the Vice Director of DICP, delivered a welcome speech and awarded the “Senior Partner Researcher” certificate.
In his cycle, carbohydrates could be converted to hydrogen, sugar biobattery, artificial starch, artificial photosynthesis (conceptual), and renewable materials. All these conversion could be achieved via in vitro assembly of numerous enzymes or their complexes and/or (biomimetic) cofactors. Compared to microbial fermentation, his platform has numerous manufacturing advantages.
Prof. Yi-Heng Percival Zhang from Virginia Tech of USA Visits DICP(Photo by Wenyi Sun)
Prof. Yi-Heng Percival Zhang obtained MSc from East China University of Science and Technology (1996), PhD from Dartmouth College, USA in Prof. Lee R Lynd’s laboratory (2002) and did Postdoc in the same lab until 2004. He took an Assistant Professor position in 2005 and became full Professor in 2014 at Virginia Tech, USA. In 2014, he took a PI position in Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, CAS, China. He current also holds Chief Scientific Officer position in Gate Fuels Inc. and Cell Free Bioinnovations Inc.（Text/Wujun Liu, Photo/Wenyi Sun）