Sustainability in the Chemical Industry Grand Challenges and Research Needs (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E. Summary of Workshop Breakout Sessions
Appendix E. Summary of Workshop Breakout Sessions
Pages 156-184
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E Summary of Workshop Breakout Sessions SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE AND LITERACY 1. What is the intellectual and conceptual content required to form a solid educational foundation on which green chemistry -- and other (related)
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· Identifying Markets. · Customer understanding of green chemistry and sustainability in order for there to be a "pull-through" effect -- analogous to the construction effect.
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Culture · "culture eats strategy for breakfast every day of the week" · Lack of support from accreditation agencies · Inertia in an aging industry"why change? " · Perception that green chemistry is not "real" chemistry · Stovepipes · Lack of understanding of the importance of sustainability · Multidisciplinary and cross-functional nature · Question is currently not natural · Need individual incentives to adopt sustainable practices; incen tives will be different for individuals in different roles · Lack of acceptance from students, who are worried they are not going to learn what they need to get into medical school or other programs · Inherent problem with long-term thinking (intergenerational is sues)
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Should it be towards consumers, student chemists/chemical engineers, and other scientists in training, business executives, MBA students, etc? General · We need to communicate the complexity of sustainability and the web of life.
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160 APPENDIX E o We need to demonstrate that the ability to make profits does not disappear with green chemistry. o This message needs to reach consumers, business executives, and middle management.
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APPENDIX E 161 Professional societies and Nonprofit/Nongovernment Organizations · The topic of green chemistry is missing from ACS's 2015 vision ing exercise. · Relations between nonprofit organizations and industry should be established or improve (e.g., GreenBlue Institute)
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To determine where decision points lie in chemical processes and reactions, one first needs to understand this complexity. · Elevate green chemistry to the level of green engineering.
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· Purchasing policies: o Mandated government and university purchasing o Leadership purchasing programs · Green Tax Reform o One potential idea: introduce tax credits to encourage sustainability · Greater penalties for mistakes ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES THAT DRIVE THE APPLICATION OF GREEN CHEMISTRY AND ENGINEERING Introductory Discussion/Commentary: What are the enabling technologies that drive the application of green chemistry and engineering? · There is a need for good metrics in green chemistry; we do not have the ability to address, or to assess, whether changes are made for the better.
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· Global Impacts: Europeans and Japan are very far ahead of us on thinking about green chemistry metrics and life cycle analysis
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APPENDIX E 165 (LCA) , but how they utilize the information is not necessarily ben eficial (going to single score)
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o Chemists need to access chemical toxicology information ear lier during the product design process. o The EPA ecotox database may be sufficient but is relatively unknown to chemists and chemical engineers.
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APPENDIX E 167 2. What kind of guidelines should be incorporated into the LCA to which every process and product should be subjected before it is commercialized?
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qualitative data for LCA · Where does green chemistry fit into LCA? Suggestions to Improve LCA: · Perhaps we should broaden the scope of LCA (for example, to capture social and cultural values)
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APPENDIX E 169 able, but it needs to be inventoried. We need a central, refereed source of data · We need heuristic tools to guide the boundaries of data for LCA.
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· Green chemistry database consisting of what happens from pro duction to dispersion into the environment. · Suggestion: workshop on Grand Challenges in Green Chemistry · Before conducting this workshop, address grand challenges in chemistry to connect molecular structures with material products.
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APPENDIX E 171 rise to a new industry as well as providing substitution for current chemicals (e.g., vanillin) o Peanuts o Potatoes o Beet pulp o Manure (e.g., animal waste in general -- pig waste, chicken waste)
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172 APPENDIX E stocks for fossil fuels. To identify feedstocks and/or processes for specific platforms, more research may be needed.
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It will involve a better collaboration between these disciplines. · Energy-efficient water removal and other separation technologies o Recovery of organic chemicals from aqueous/fermentation solutions o May be process-dependent · Green chemistry alternatives to production of large volume mate rials such as solvents, salts, acids, and bases.
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· Reevaluate large processes (i.e., paper industry) in light of green chemistry principles.
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APPENDIX E 175 4. Which areas of application require the most attention, or will pro vide the greatest opportunities (e.g., specialty intermediate and complex molecule synthesis)
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176 APPENDIX E · Also, what are net sustainability impacts? For example, where do the petrochemicals go if they are not being used to manufacture chemical products or gasoline?
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APPENDIX E 177 Emphasize opportunities for biologists and chemists to work together. Arethereotherareasofchemistrythatshouldbeencour aged for alternative feedstock research?
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178 APPENDIX E o Capture complexity from plant feedstocks. o Perform selective oxidation/reduction reactions to accom plish goals.
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Sustained funding effort is needed. · Congress should pass a green chemistry bill · The government should address the need for infrastructure modi fications when implementing biodiesel and biofuel usage.
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180 APPENDIX E o Use a small fraction, e.g., $0.02 tax on gasoline to invest in researching renewable fuels · Establish standards, codes, and benchmarks. o Dramatically higher fuel efficiency standards o CO2 emissions standards · Expedite the permit process for developing sustainable processes or materials.
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APPENDIX E 181 less energy intensive but requires suitable separation technolo gies. Examples include: o Chemical conversion of biomass to polymers, including di rect chemical conversion of biomass polymer into functional products o Conversion of vegetable oils to chemicals, polymers, and functional products · Conversion of lignin to aromatics is another possibility.
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182 APPENDIX E 4. Building on Dr.
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184 APPENDIX E grows. We need to communicate a sense of urgency about the problem.
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