Environmental Impacts of Biobanking
Environmental Impacts of Biobanking
Date: Tuesday 07 May 2024
Time: 10:00 - 11:00
Venue: Advanced Research Centre (ARC)
Category: Staff workshops and seminars
Speaker: Matthew Graham, Research Assistant, King's College London
Website: www.eventbrite.com/e/environmental-impacts-of-biobanking-tickets-891547331067
The presentation will summarise the findings of a one year, UK-based, MRC-funded multidisciplinary research project designed to understand the environmental impacts of biobanking, led by Dr. Gabrielle Samuel (KCL) and Martin Farley (UKRI). Matthew Graham will explore the results of two Carbon Footprinting Assessments that were carried out for the project, including exploring the carbon impacts of different phases of a ULT freezer lifecycle, comparing the footprint of ULT freezer vs. liquid nitrogen storage, and unpacking the carbon costs of different forms of liquid nitrogen production and storage systems.
Matthew will also present the final output of the project – a Roadmap for low-carbon ultra-low temperature storage in biobanking, that was developed through two qualitative stakeholder workshops. The Roadmap offers recommendations associated with nine areas of ULT storage practice: four relating to ULT freezers, three associated with LN2 storage, and two generalised discussions regarding biosample management and centralisation. For each practice, the Roadmap describes (a) the best approaches to mitigate carbon emissions, (b) explore barriers associated with hindering their implementation, and (c) make a series of recommendations that can help biobank stakeholders overcome these barriers.