According to Nature, UT alumnus Dr. Guus Velders (RIVM) is one of ten most influential scientists of 2016.
Velders (52), currently an atmospheric chemist at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), sowed the seeds for an important international climate agreement in 2016. He did that by showing the effect of hydrofluorocarbons (HFC’s). These HFC’s are used in airconditioners, for example. We know the effect the better-known CFC’s (chlorofluorocarbons) have on the ozone layer; HFC’s don’t have this effect, but they are strong greenhouse gases leading to a significant rise in temperature. In October 2016, a new treaty for reducing production and use of HFC’s was signed in Kigali, Rwanda. Velders was able to make fast calculations the temperature rise, even in case some countries preferred a longer period for phasing out HFC’s. Worldwide, he is seen as the expert on HFC emission.
Guus Velders studied Applied Physics at the University of Twente and did his PhD there as well, within the Chemical Physics group. His thesis (1992) was titled ‘The electron density of molecules: a tool for understanding molecular response’. Since 1993, he works at RIVM.
The list of ’Ten people who mattered this year’ is on Nature’s website. RIVM also published a news release.
