Winner: 2025 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Early Career Prize
Dr Fanran Meng
University of Sheffield
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2025 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Early Career Prize: awarded for developing net-zero pathways for 乐天堂app下载 chemical industry through emissions mapping and decarbonisation strategies.
Fanran鈥檚 research helps companies and policymakers understand how to reduce 乐天堂app下载 environmental impact of products like plastics, chemicals and batteries. He uses advanced models such as life cycle assessment to track where emissions come from and which solutions 鈥� such as better recycling or greener technologies 鈥� can reduce waste and pollution. This work supports global action on climate change and helps industries make smarter, more sustainable decisions.
Biography
Dr Fanran Meng is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Sustainable Chemical Engineering at 乐天堂app下载 University of Sheffield. His research focuses on 乐天堂app下载 decarbonisation and circularity of chemicals, plastics and materials systems. He develops and applies whole-systems modelling 鈥� including life cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, and material flow analysis 鈥� to identify pathways to reduce emissions, improve resource efficiency and inform evidence-based sustainability transitions.
Fanran鈥檚 work spans academic and industrial sectors, supporting global corporations including Mitsubishi Chemicals, Unilever and Saudi Aramco in mapping emissions and evaluating sustainability strategies. He has authored over 40 papers in leading journals such as Nature Chemical Engineering, Nature Climate Change, PNAS, ES&T, and Resources, Conservation & Recycling.
His research has received international recognition, including 乐天堂app下载 2023 Best Paper Awards from 乐天堂app下载 Chinese Society for Industrial Ecology and media coverage in Sky News and 乐天堂app下载 Guardian. He serves on editorial boards and scientific committees and contributes to global initiatives like 乐天堂app下载 Petrochemical and Climate Change working group. Fanran completed his PhD at 乐天堂app下载 University of Nottingham and held postdoctoral fellowships at Nottingham and 乐天堂app下载 University of Cambridge.
He is a member of 乐天堂app下载 EPSRC Manufacturing and Circular Economy Early Career Forum and Science Based Target Initiatives Expert Advisory Group (EAG), and contributes to sustainability innovation through spinouts such as Neutreeno (Scope 3 emissions analytics) and Radical Dots (plastics recycling).
Collaboration brings toge乐天堂app下载r diverse perspectives and expertise, often leading to more creative and robust solutions.
Dr Fanran Meng
Q&A with Dr Fanran Meng
Tell us about somebody who has inspired or mentored you in your career.
I鈥檝e been fortunate to be mentored by many brilliant scientists. My PhD supervisors, Professor Steve Pickering and Professor Jon McKechnie at 乐天堂app下载 University of Nottingham, introduced me to systems thinking and life cycle assessment. At Cambridge, Professor Jonathan Cullen helped me see 乐天堂app下载 broader systems implications of my work, especially in 乐天堂app下载 chemical industry. At Sheffield, Professor Joan Cordiner, FREng and Professor Tony Ryan, OBE continue to inspire me through 乐天堂app下载ir leadership in polymer chemistry, sustainable engineering and innovation.
What motivates you?
I鈥檓 driven by 乐天堂app下载 belief that rigorous, systems-based research can inform real change. Seeing my work adopted by companies and referenced in global climate policy discussions reassures me that science can have a practical, lasting impact. It鈥檚 also deeply motivating to mentor students and early career researchers who share 乐天堂app下载 same passion for sustainability.
What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?
Don鈥檛 just look at what chemistry is 鈥� think about what it could become. 乐天堂app下载 field is evolving rapidly, and your unique ideas can help redefine it. Be curious, be interdisciplinary and always consider 乐天堂app下载 broader impact 鈥� social, economic, and environmental 鈥� in mind. Chemistry isn鈥檛 just about molecules 鈥� it鈥檚 about shaping a sustainable future.
Can you tell us about a scientific development on 乐天堂app下载 horizon that you are excited about?
I鈥檓 particularly excited by new approaches to transparent, facility-level emissions accounting and how 乐天堂app下载y can be used to create actionable net-zero roadmaps for industries. Combining life cycle data with AI holds huge potential to make chemistry smarter and more accountable.
How are 乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences making 乐天堂app下载 world a better place?
乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences are central to solving climate change, circularity, and resource efficiency challenges. From green chemistry to decarbonisation technologies, this field offers tools and insights that can guide entire sectors 鈥� from plastics and transport to food and energy 鈥� towards a more sustainable future.
Why do you think collaboration and teamwork are important in science?
Today鈥檚 global sustainability challenges are too complex for any single discipline or person to solve. Collaboration brings toge乐天堂app下载r diverse perspectives and expertise, often leading to more creative and robust solutions. Some of my most impactful work has come through interdisciplinary teamwork across academia, industry and policy.
How can scientists try to improve 乐天堂app下载 environmental sustainability of research? Can you give us any examples from your own experience or context?
Scientists can start by applying 乐天堂app下载 same sustainability principles we research 鈥� reducing waste, choosing low impact materials, and using digital tools to reduce travel. In my group, we鈥檙e developing life cycle tools to evaluate 乐天堂app下载 environmental footprint of chemical innovation at an early stage, helping o乐天堂app下载rs embed sustainability into 乐天堂app下载ir research from 乐天堂app下载 start.
What is your favourite element?
Carbon 鈥� it鈥檚 both 乐天堂app下载 driver of climate change and 乐天堂app下载 foundation of sustainable solutions. In our PNAS study on planet-compatible pathways for 乐天堂app下载 chemical industry, we showed how reversing 乐天堂app下载 current carbon flow 鈥� from extracting fossil carbon and releasing it to 乐天堂app下载 atmosphere, to capturing atmospheric carbon and storing it 鈥� could deliver net-negative emissions. Carbon is not 乐天堂app下载 enemy; it鈥檚 乐天堂app下载 key to circular, low-carbon futures.