University Professor Geoffrey Ozin and PhD candidate Mireille Ghoussoub have announced this week the publication of The Story of CO2: Big Ideas for a Small Molecule. Scheduled for release in October, the book explores all aspects of carbon dioxide – from the atomic to the universal perspective – and is a timely contribution to the climate crisis debate by showcasing how we can use carbon dioxide as a resource.
"The current pandemic has laid stark the importance of communicating science effectively to the public and the need for evidence-based policy to protect human life," says Ghoussoub. "The climate crisis is no different. Our book was written with a general audience in mind and aims to shine light on the science and technologies behind decarbonization solutions."
Ozin hopes this book will not only be a useful teaching tool, but will also inform the public at large about the opportunites carbon dioxide can provide.
"The subject crosses the boundaries between all the disciplines and it can serve as an inspiring story that hopefully will help our governments, media, industry, business and civil society to realize CO2 can be your 'best friend'."
Ghoussoub says the opportunity to write this book was an eye-opening experience and she hopes it leaves readers with a bit of optimism.
"Climate change is an inherently complex social, economic, and environmental problem and therefore no single technology will ever serve as its silver bullet. Still, we hope that readers might come away with the hope and knowledge that alternative solutions do exist, even for industries that have been proclaimed as especially hard to decarbonize."
"This book could mark a turning point, " says University Professor John Polanyi. "The beginning of a paradigm shift."