Patrick Penndorf

I’ve worked nearly 5 years as a sustainability consultant.
One thing I’ve noticed?
Almost no one talks about how much energy lab equipment consumes.

> A single institute can use enough electricity to power a small village.

Let’s raise awareness.
Let’s do better.

Of course, these vary depending on model + usage.
But even as rough averages, they’re eye-opening.

Big thanks to @MyGreenLab and @Eppendorf for pushing transparency on this!

#ACTLabel #LabEnergy

And the heavy hitters:

🌫️ Fume Hood: 20–35 kWh
⚛️ MS: 15–20
💧 HPLC: 5–15
🔥 GC-MS: 20–50
🥶 Freezer: 5–20 (old ones: >35!)

If you care about sustainability, these numbers you need to know - let's make it super quick:

These numbers are hard to come by but:

Centrifuge: 4.2 kWh
Incubator: 0.04–0.9
PCR Cycler: 0.2–2
Thermomixer: 0.11
E-pipette: 0.01–0.05

#GreenLab #STEM #Sustainability

The wild part?
In cases where the AI and authors disagreed, human judges sided more often with the AI.

We may be witnessing the next evolution of science.
Soon, we won’t know if a review was written by humans or AI.

Are we ready for that?

#AI #ScientificPublishing #STEM

A Cochrane review usually takes 2–3 researchers up to 365 days.
The AI did it in under 48 hours — with similar conclusions.

🔹 GPT-4.1 screens titles & abstracts
🔹 Gemini turns PDFs into structured Markdown
🔹 o3-mini-high extracts outcome data
→ Meta-analysis is then run

It finally happened.
AI can now write systematic reviews better than humans.

And it only takes 2 days...

A group of researchers (Cao et al.) built a workflow using freely available AI tools to:

🔹 Screen papers
🔹 Extract data
🔹 Run meta-analyses

All without any hefty coding.

This project concludes in August. I’ve spent 10 out of 14 days so far. Results to come!

Sustainability is possible, even with limited time and small investments. 🌍

Wish me luck! 🍀

So far, we’ve identified 30+ ways to be more sustainable without changing workflows.

The best part?

I’ve made incredible connections. The team is creative and constantly surprises me with new ideas to make experiments greener. 💡

The plan:

Get to know the institute, people, and culture
Work one-on-one with scientists on their workflows
Share solutions and drive culture change

= All in two weeks

A few weeks ago, a former professor reached out from a research institute with 350+ scientists.

Asking for help making their research more sustainable. 🌱

Making a research institute more sustainable in just 2 weeks?

The Leibniz-HKI and I took on the challenge... 🧵👇

The goal wasn’t just clean energy, but also less plastic in experiments, reducing chemical waste, and improving health & safety.

#STEM #Greenlab @leibniz-hki.de

And yes—even in papers, you start with the abstract.

Why?
Because readers want to know if it's worth reading—before they commit.

Your audience is no different.

#SciComm #PhDLife #STEM #Storytelling #ScienceCommunication

Instead of asking:
“How do I introduce my topic?”

Ask:
“What grabs my viewer right now?”
“What’s the most shocking part of this story?”

Then start there.

If you want to hook people, don’t introduce.
Grab them.
Surprise them.
Make them feel something they can’t scroll past.

Most scientists start their SciComm like they start a paper:
"Today I'm going to talk about..."

Big mistake.

Nobody has time to be well informed—until they know it's relevant.

🎬 Do science communication like making a great movie.

Start mid-action. No foreplay.

Here’s how I got millions of views (and 600+ newsletter readers in 3 weeks) by doing what most scientists don’t:

PCR doesn't have to be slow, expensive, or wasteful.
Small changes = big impact.

#PCR #LabTips #PhDLife #GreenLab #ScienceTwitter

🧪 Pipetting tip:

Always prep a master mix. It saves time AND plastic.
Also, use the same tip to prep and distribute the mix.

📉 Working with replicates?
Mix water + DNA once, then aliquot. Don’t pipette into each tube separately.
→ Saves tips
→ more consistent DNA concentrations

💡 Sustainability tip:
Raise your holding temp from 4 °C → 12–16 °C

Eppendorf found this saves 30–45% energy depending on the thermocycler.

Pedlar et al. shortened cycle times significantly:
• 5s denaturation (vs. 30s)
• 25s annealing (vs. 60s)
• 25s extension (vs. 60s)

🔬 Result:
– 46% faster (1h 57min → 59min)
– 50% less energy
– Fewer cycles (28 vs. 32) with similar results & less variation

This post might change how you do your PCRs

Potentially saving you 46% time, 50% money, and 38% plastic waste

In short: DOI: 10.1016/j.biochi.2024.01.013

In more detail in the thread below:

DOI: 10.1038/s41557-025-01845-5

= Something we throw away every day could soon become a medicine

Plastic is organic. It contains carbon. And carbon can be reused.

-> The same chemistry that created the plastic crisis might just help clean it up—and ease some pain along the way.

Now that’s transformation isn't it?

In a recent breakthrough, Johnson et al. developed a new route to produce paracetamol:

No fossil fuels required.

The chemistry:
PET → terephthalic acid → para-aminobenzoic acid (a natural E. coli metabolite) → 4-aminophenol → paracetamol

Improved yield from 29% to 92%.

Paracetamol is normally made from phenol, which is derived from oil—using the energy-intensive cumene process.

In short: pain relief comes from fossil fuels.

But scientists have now found another way.
They start with used PET plastic bottles.

We can now make paracetamol—the world’s most-used painkiller—from plastic waste.

Yes, seriously. Here’s how 🧵

#STEM #Environment #Innovation

These events are where:
✨ Friendships are built
🔬 Internships and collabs are born
🌍 You feel part of a scientific community

Just because it’s not lab work doesn’t mean it’s not real work!

@enableconference.bsky.social @iubmbtrainee.bsky.social @iubmb.bsky.social @febsjuniorsection.bsky.social

Celebrating European Science | FEBS-IUBMB-Enable Conference Join us for the 2025 FEBS-IUBMB-ENABLE conference!The conference will be held 10-12 September in Glasgow.Learn moreA conference organised by and for young

Want to build your network?

Start with conferences - every organization has them.

One I for early-career scientists I know of:
👉 FEBS–IUBMB–ENABLE Conference

It’s designed for career growth & networking.
febs-iubmb-enableconference.org

Instead of running yet another experiment, students should learn this:

💬 Going to events.
🤝 Talking to peers.
🧠 Learning how to discuss science—not just do science.
Networking is a skill, not a shortcut.