On December 6, [Mingli Lecture Hall, Issue XX, 2022], we had the honor to invite researcher Cao Zhi of Antwerp University, Belgium, to bring you an academic report entitled "Managing material flows and stocks to decarbonize material cycles". The report was presided over by Mr. Zhang Bin, School of Management and Economics, Beijing University of Technology. This report was conducted online and attracted more than 20 teachers and students.In the report, Mr. Cao Zhi first introduced that the earth has officially entered the "Anthropocene" and that the stock of man-made materials has exceeded the total weight of biomass. Then, Cao Zhi showed the research results of material flow analysis in the whole life cycle of cement. Through the top-down model to quantify the cement development trend, it is found that the per capita cement stock in more than 180 countries is almost on the rise. Then, through in-depth research on the production and use of cement throughout its life cycle, the potential of achieving net zero emission in the cement and concrete cycle was evaluated. Finally, Mr. Cao Zhi summarized the important role of managing the material stock in the socio-economic system in achieving the temperature control objectives of 1.5 ℃, 2 ℃ and carbon neutrality.

After the report, the participating teachers and students had an interactive discussion with Mr. Cao Zhi on relevant academic issues. The report received a warm response and was unanimously praised by the participating teachers and students.

Attached is Mr. Cao Zhi's profile:

Cao Zhi, the assistant professor and doctoral advisor of Antwerp University, Belgium, graduated from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Resources of the Chinese Academy of Sciences with a doctor's degree. He was once engaged in research and teaching in the fields of industrial emission reduction, industrial ecology, resource metabolism analysis and full life cycle analysis at Northwestern University in the United States and the University of Southern Denmark in Denmark. He presided over and participated in the Belgium Special Research Fund, China Belgium Cooperation Research Projects, the strategic leader of the Chinese Academy of Sciences As the editor of SCI journals in sustainable fields such as Resources, Conservation&Recycling, Ecosystem Health and Sustainability, he was selected into the committee of low-carbon cement standards of the Climate Bonds Initiative for scientific research projects such as the European Union Horizon and the US Department of Energy Fund. Specific research issues and cases cover multiple fields, such as the assessment of the recycling and emission reduction potential of global bulk materials, the assessment of resource metabolism and sustainability of built environment and transportation infrastructure. He has published more than 30 papers in Nature Sustainability, Nature Communications, Environmental Science&Technology and other journals, and the relevant research results have been quoted at large length by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other journals.