A number of research teams, key labs and institutes of environmental protection and sustainable development are located at Tianjin University (TJU), contributing to China's commitment to green and innovative growth.

Fighting against pollution

The potential risk of eutrophication in lakes in China’s urban areas, mainly caused by phosphorus pollution, has been greatly reduced, with phosphorus content dropping by over one third compared to previous years, according to research carried out by a team from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at TJU.

“The dropping phosphorus content shows that China's pollution control measures have taken effect,” said Tong Yindong, leader of the research team. “Scientific statistics says that we are moving in the right direction.”

Just like Tong's team, the school's other teams are also working on environmental pollution control and prevention.

Professor Ji Min and his team focus on water pollution in the Haihe River, one of seven major rivers in China and considered the "mother river" of Tianjin.

He proposed a physical-chemical and eco-purification emergency treatment technology to clean the heavy polluted river, adding that it should regain the ability to self-purify.

In order to promote the Haihe River treatment program, TJU took the lead in establishing an ecological purification technology engineering center in 2014.

Tong Yindong and his colleagues at Namtso Lake in the summer of 2015. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Green growth and economic benefits

Pollution control is not only about ending pollution. The pollution source may yield bioenergy.

Professor Chen Guanyi has been studying straw gasification for years. According to his research, the content of tar released in that process can be decreased by over 85 percent by using a non-traditional burning method. What’s more, economic benefits can be captured from various products of gasification.

The School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, one of the most competitive chemical schools in China, is also prominent in green innovation. With a series of key labs and centers established, the school has made breakthroughs in sustainable development.

A team led by Professor Zhang Minhua from the R&D Center for Petrochemical Technology won the gold medal of the WIPO-SIPO Award.

Over the past decade, the team has been focusing on gaining alcohol from cassava. It has developed a packaged cassava alcohol production technology, proving that "economic benefits and environmental protection are not mutually contradictory.”

Efforts to sustainable development

The last few years have seen great achievements by TJU in sustainable development.

In 2012, TJU and the University of South Australia established the China-Australia Center for Sustainable Urban Development. The Center is home to collaboration in various fields including environment and ecology and security and governance of urban areas, and aims to resolve sustainable urban development issues in the Asia-Pacific region.

Thanks to the efforts of TJU, APSEC, or the APEC Sustainable Energy Center, was established in 2014 to optimize energy structures and promote sustainable energy development across the Asia-Pacific region.

Other institutes are also bringing favorable attention to TJU. They include the Research Institute of China Green Development of Tianjin University, the Key Laboratory of Efficient Utilization of Low and Medium Grade Energy and the Institute of Surface-Earth System Science.

“Tianjin University will make further efforts to contribute to China’s green development in the future,” said Li Jiajun, secretary of TJU’s Party committee.