For Holewinski, the Fulbright Award is an opportunity to advance the work of Holewinsky's research group, which focuses on "efficient, renewable and environmentally friendly catalytic processes for energy production, as well as commodities and fine chemical."

The production of chemical such as fuels, plastics, and fertilizers often requires catalysts, substances that speed up chemical reactions and reduce the amount of energy used to drive them. Normally this energy comes from the heat generated by burning fossil fuels, but Holewinski's research involves electricity that uses renewable energy sources.

His research also involves designing new catalysts to convert renewable carbon sources such as sugars from biomass, such as plants or algae, into fuels that can replace fossil fuels and reduce harmful emissions. These renewable carbon sources can also be converted (using new catalysts) to create the organic building blocks needed to make sustainable, recyclable plastics.

Combining sustainable raw materials such as renewable electricity, catalysis, and biocarbon "opens up a whole range of new opportunities," Holewinski said. For example, a common area of electrocatalysis research involves splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. In theory, Hoelwisnski says, the oxygen-producing reaction could be replaced with substances that produce other useful chemical, because the reaction that produces each gas takes place in a different compartment of an electrochemical cell.

ECHEMI --- The name originated from the abbreviation of “E-commerce of chemical”.

ECHEMI is a chemical supply chain service company headquartered in Hong Kong, providing chemical raw materials supply, research and analysis marketing, distribution, logistics, e-commerce, and after-sales services.