All around us we see the remarkable advances that petrochemical technologies have brought to humankind and our society. Life expectancy , economic advancement and global mobility are all striking examples of the benefits of real ingenuity and innovation over many decades in the science and technological application of fossil fuels. One also recognises that society's current energy trajectory is not sustainable; this trajectory is running alongside the critical issues of human-induced climate change and potential ecological destruction. For their part, the petrochemical technologies are now rising to the challenge of global energy sustainability.
The KACST-Oxford Forum - the first of its kind - will attempt to address the many and varied sustainability issues that petrochemical technologies now face and the special responsibilities that Saudi Arabia has as the world's leading petroleum and petrochemical production centre. Our 1st KACST-Oxford Forum will therefore advance not only the challenge of building the future of petrochemical technologies in a sustainable way, but also to highlight the new and exciting opportunities that such an approach brings.
Thus, whilst recognising the critical need for the development of alternative energy technologies, our vision is that the world is equally served in the short and medium terms by real advances and real innovation in developing cleaner, more efficient and more economic petrochemical production and conversion technologies. We have targeted 5 major thematic areas:
Petrochemicals: smart and atom-economic synthesis
Renewable, carbon-neutral synthetic fuels from CO2
The socio-economics of energy futures: oil, natural gas and petrochemicals
Innovation in crude oil, synthetic oil and gas refining and processing
Processes for value-added fine chemicals, such as new, high-performance polymers
Our mission will be catalysed and sustained at our Forum by the presence and contributions of so many world-leading scientists and technologists who share our vision.