Ch 16 Sustainability and Green Chemistry

Atom economy

"atom efficiency" - describes the conversion efficiency of a chemical process in terms of all atoms involved

What were the themes of the Rio+20 conference?

- 1. A green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication - 2. the institutional framework for sustainable development

Examples of outputs?

- Air emissions from fuel combustion and electrify generation — include greenhouse gases, acid-forming or ozone/smog-generating gases, hazardous air pollutants, and particulates - Water effluents — discharges to lakes, rivers, or groundwater (specific regulated pollutants, acidic compounds, nutrients, heavy metals, domestic sewage, oxygen demanding organic materials, and waste heat) - Solid and liquid wastes — collected and disposed of in landfills or hazardous waste facilities - Land/wilderness/wildlife — wildlife habitat damage, soil disturbances, land clearing, vegetation control, clearing wilderness areas - Accidental releases — release of chemicals or biological agents that may pose significant environmental, health, or safety risks, and may require emergency response training, planning, or equipment

What is an output?

- Marketable products — main products and useful co-products

What factors cause impact decoupling?

- Pollution produced by extraction of natural resources (Groundwater pollution caused by mining or agriculture) - Production processes (Land degradation, wastes, and emissions) - Post consumption waste

What are the objectives of the International Resource Panel?

- Provide independent, coherent, and authoritative scientific assessments of the sustainable use of natural resources and their environmental impacts over the full lifecycle - Contribute to a better understanding of how to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation

What were the objectives of the Rio+20 conference?

- Secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development - Assess the progress made to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development - Address new and emerging challenges

Examples of inputs?

- Supplementary materials — i.e. packaging, consumables for production materials (lubrication and engine oil), or replacement parts that wear out (belts, filters) - Energy — including electricity and/or fuels - Transportation-related energy — to deliver materials or final products or to move workers - Water — for industrial processes, steam, to be consumed by humans or animals, cleaning, or irrigation

Characteristics of click chemistry reactions

- be modular - be wide in scope - give very high chemical yields - generate only inoffensive by products - be stereospecific - be philologically stable - Exhibit a large thermodynamic driving force (> 84kJ/mol) bro favor a reaction with a single reaction product; distinct exothermic reaction makes a reactant "spring loaded" - high atom economy

What is an input?

- main materials, products, and equipment— used to produce the intended product

Characteristics of click chemistry processes

- simple reaction conditions - use readily available starting materials and reagents - use no solvent or use a solvent that is benign or easily removed (preferably water) - provide simple product isolation by nonchrmatographic methods (crystallization or distillation)

example of green chemistry: Greener solvents

- traditional solvents have a contaminating effect - > 30 billion pounds of organic and halogenated compounds used worldwide each year as solvents, processing aids, cleaning agents, and dispersants - Ideal solvent = CO2 when compressed into liquid state - nontoxic, nonflammable, energy-efficient, cost-effective, waste minimizing, and reusable

What is impact decoupling?

-requires an economy to increase its economic output while reducing its negative environmental impacts -requires society to use resources more efficiently, more wisely, and more cleanly

What are the 12 principles of green chemistry?

1. Prevention 2. Atom economy 3. less hazardous chemical syntheses 4. design of safer chemicals 5. safer solvents and auxiliaries 6. design for energy efficiency 7. use of renewable feedstocks 8. reduced use of derivatives 9. catalysis 10. design for degradation 11. real-time analysis for pollution prevention 12. inherently safer chemistry for accident prevention

What are the goals of the Marrakech process?

1. to assist countries in their efforts to "Green" their economies 2. help corporations develop greener business models 3. encourage consumers to adopt more sustainable lifestyles

What is the Marrakech Process?

10 year plan to accelerate SCP patterns and to promote social and economic development while minimizing environmental degradation

By 2080, the world will have ___ humans

14 billion

When was the EPA founded?

1970

When was the UNCSD established?

1983; established by the UN

If fast-developing countries adopt current western consumption and production patterns, we will need _____ to provide the resources by 2050

5 earths

How many laws have the EPA passed?

>100 environmental laws

What is leapfrog technology?

A process that accelerates development by skipping inferior, less efficient, more expensive, or more polluting technologies and moving directly to more efficient technologies.

What is the first Axiom of Sustainability?

Any society that continues to use critical resources unsustainably will collapse

What is the goal of life-cycle thinking?

Avoid burden shifting by focusing on the entire cycle and not just one stage

The people of which medium- and low-income countries have longer life expectancies than do people in the US?

Chile and Costa Rica

Which of today's known reserves of some metals found commonly in household products will be depleted in 40-50 years?

Cu, Zn, Ag

What was the final report of the 2002 UN meeting?

Fundamental changes in the way societies produce and consume are indispensable for achieving global sustainable development. All countries should promote sustainable consumption and production patterns

Where was the 2002 UN meeting?

Johannesburg, South Africa

When and where was the last UNCSD conference held?

June 2012; Brazil

What was the International Resource Panel?

Launched by the UN Environment Programme UNEP; November 2007 expected to provide the scientific impetus for decoupling economic growth and resource use from environmental degradation

What was the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990?

Mandate industry and government to focus on reducing pollution through changes in production, operation, and raw materials use that could reduce costs. EPA est. Office of Pollution Prevention. Authorized EPA to collect pollution prevention data

"Green chemistry" was coined by who?

Paul Anastas; 1991; EPA

_________________ is the first choice to reduce risks to human health and the environment

Pollution prevention

What is the second Axiom of Sustainability?

Population growth and/or growth in the rates of consumption of resources cannot be sustained

What perspectives does the International Resource Panel view the economy?

Production, Consumption, and Resources

Where pollution prevention is not possible or not cost-efficient, what other, less appealing options are implemented to reduce risks to human health and the environment?

Recycling, waste treatment, safe disposal of waste residues

Who wrote "Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Decline in Earth's Resources"?

Richard Heinberg, an American journalist

Where was the 1992 UN conference on environment and development?

Rio de Janeiro

What is burden shifting?

Solving one problem in the cycle while creating another somewhere else

What is the LCA method developed by Environment Canada?

Step 1. Create a life-cycle map for the product Step 2. Identifying Inputs and Outputs associated with the product life cycle Step 3. Design Checklist Step 4. Engage Suppliers

Sustainability affects three intertwined areas:

TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE: The economy, society, and the environment

What is sustainability?

The responsible use of natural resources so that they are not depleted

What does the UNCSD stand for?

UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

What was the result of the 2010 Toxic Release Inventory report?

US industries reported > 39 billion pounds of hazardous substances were treated, recycled, used for energy production, disposed of, or released to the environment

What does resources mean in the economy?

Which materials have the highest impacts? Material choices and sustainability policies on resources

What does consumption mean in the economy?

Which products and consumption clusters have the highest lifecycle impacts? Where shifts to low impact products and sustainable lifestyles can most reduce impacts

What does production mean in the economy?

Which sectors have the highest impacts? Helps identify where clean and efficient technologies are most needed

What is the ideal chemical process for atom economy?

amount of reactants = amount of products

What are fixed resources?

arable land, quantity of nonrenewable resources, quantity of water

1. Prevention

better to prevent waste than to treat/clean up afterwards

modus operandi?

calling for all parties to prevent problems before they happen

9. Catalysis

catalytic reagents are superior to stoichiometric reagents

Click Chemistry

chemical philosophy by K. Barry Sharpless of Scripps Research Institute in 2001; describes chemistry tailored to generate substances quickly and reliably by joining small units together; not a specific reaction, but rather a concept that mimics nature

12. Inherently safer chemistry for accident prevention

choose substances and the form of a subsance used in a chemical process to minimize the potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fire

The 21st Century will see ___ and ___

contraction and simplication

What does resource decoupling lead to?

dematerialization, an increase in the efficiency with which resources are used, and enhanced resource productivity can be measured

10. Design for Degradation

design chemical products so they break down into innocuous products that do not persist in the environment

4. Design of safer chemicals

design chemical products to perform their desired function while minimizing their toxicity

2. Atom Economy

design synthetic methods to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product

3. Less hazardous chemical syntheses

design synthetic methods to use and generate substances that minimize toxicity to human health and the environment

11. Real-time Analysis for pollution prevention

develop analytical methodologies needed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances

What is sustainable development?

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs

A 1% growth rate in present human population would equal ___ of population every ___ years

doubling; 70

What is the Fundamental goal of sustainability?

ensure that the rate of harvest is below the rate of natural replenishment

What is indium?

essential metal in energy efficient LED lights; very rare, will be depleted in less than 15 years

How often did the UNCSD meet?

every 2 years in NYC

What is the purpose of the principles of green chemistry?

focus on making industrial processes more sustainable by minimizing the use and generation of hazardous substances

What is the Rate of depletion?

for a natural resource, the amount being extracted and used during a specified time interval (usually a year) as a percentage of the total known amount

What is the rate of natural replenishment?

for a natural resource, the rate at which it is restored following harvest

The 20th Century saw the ____ and _____ of scale, scope, and complexity of human societies in history

greatest; most rapid expansion

Increased population causes what?

increased competition for increasingly scarce resources

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF GREEN CHEMISTRY:

industry should avoid the use and generation of toxic, dangerous, persistent substances and prevent their release into the environment

To be sustainable, the depletion rate must be ___ than the extraction rate of the resource?

less

What is LCA

life-cycle assessment.........The analysis of all that goes into making, using, transporting, and disposing of a product.

Although all people need money to live decent lives, higher income does not necessarily lead to a ___ life

longer

What is a product's life-cycle?

manufactured, transported, installed, used, maintained, disposed, and either reused, repurposed, or sent to waste

What is a life-cycle map?

map serves as basis for understanding and communicating about LCA, both within a company and with others in the life cycle

8. Reduced use of derivatives

minimize or avoid unnecessary derivation if possible, which requires additional reagents and generates waste

6. Design for Energy Efficiency

minimize the energy requirements of chemical processes and carry out synthetic methods at ambient temperature and pressure if possible

5. Safer Solvents and auxiliaries

minimize the use of auxiliary substances wherever possible, and make them innocuous when they are used

Western industrialized economies cause ____ of the environmental impacts seen on our planet?

more than 2/3

The extraction, processing and consumption of ____ resources are some of the worst examples of pollution in the modern world

nonrenewable

Why MUST we CHANGE consumption and production patterns?

our economies overuse the planet's limited resources

example of green chemistry: Recyclable carpets

polyolefin carpeting backing replaces PVC

What is a solution to Axiom 4?

recycling

What is resource decoupling?

reducing the rate of use of primary resources for each unit of economic activity An economy that is able to sustain GDP growth without having a negative impact on environmental conditions, is said to be decoupled.

What did the EPA focus on from 1970 to 1990?

regulations to reduce environmental damage by controlling pollutants at the point where they are released to the environment with "end of pipe regulations"

What is "Our Common Future"?

report published by the UNCSD in 1987; defined sustainable development

What is a critical resource?

resource essential to the maintenance of life and society

Who leads the life-cycle assessments?

society of environmental toxicology and chemistry

Examples of leapfrog technology?

solar power technology, high-efficiency LED lighting, renewable energy sources

example of green chemistry: Dry cleaning of clothes

solvent perchloroethylene = Perc -- EPA classified carcinogen to humans; discarded as hazardous waste; contributes to smog -- trying to replace perc with liquefied CO2

Pollution prevention is "__"

source reduction

Why was the UNSCD established?

special commission asked to develop a plan for dealing with the collapse of society if leaders do not follow axioms

General rule: societies will exhaust resources that are ___ and easy to get up first and then move to those that are ___ substitutes to replace these necessary natural resources

superior, inferior

What is the fifth Axiom of Sustainability?

sustainability requires that substances introduced into the environment from human activities be minimized and rendered harmless to biosphere functions

What is SCP?

sustainable consumption and production - reduce the use of natural resources and the release of CO2 while increasing the recycling rate for manufactured goods

example of green chemistry: earth-friendly plastics

synthetic polymers; Polymers are not biodegradable - International interest in making polymers from natural resources that can be recycled

What was the final report of the 1992 UN conference?

the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production particularly in industrialized countries which is a matter of grave concern aggravating poverty and balances

What is the fourth Axiom of Sustainability?

to be sustainable, the use of nonrenewable resources must proceed at a rate that is declining, and the rate of decline must be greater than or equal to the rate of depletion

What is the third Axiom of Sustainability?

to be sustainable, the use of renewable resources must proceed at a rate that is less then or equal to the rate of natural replenishment

What is dematerialization?

use less material, energy, water, and land resources for the same, or greater, economic output;

example of green chemistry: computer chip cleaning

use liquified CO2 in place of hazardous solvents and corrosive chemicals

7. Use of renewable feedstocks

use renewable raw material or feedstock whenever practicable

What is antimony?

used to make metal alloys and in semiconductor detectors; depleted in 30 years

Examples of critical resources?

water, energy, food production resources "essential plant nutrients" such as N and P