Sustainable chemical manufacture and economic prosperity flowing as One

[摘要] Chemistry plays a critically important role in human development, but also poses many sustainability challenges to mitigate the deleterious effects of this industry on the environment and resource consumption. Green chemistry is a philosophical approach that seeks to look at chemical processes and manufacture holistically, with a view to systematically improving the overall efficiency.This background report analyses the importance of sustainable chemical manufacturing toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and analyses the Australian industry’s position relative to these ambitions. Chemical waste continues to be a major policy driver for many countries and Australia and a cross-section of the Asia-Pacific region’s responses to these challenges is reviewed.While sustainable chemical manufacturing is clearly a laudable goal, making the transition involves a difficult and costly investment decision for many firms. Flow chemistry is presented as a potential technological solution that begins to address many of the SDGs by dramatically improving a range of processing parameters, including: better processes and less waste generation; better scalability due to compact, efficient and modular reactor design; smaller physical footprint resulting in reduced capital, operating and maintenance costs; and superior inherent safety. Two cases from the fine chemical manufacturing industry are presented in detail, which demonstrate these benefits.This report concludes by framing the overall socio-technical challenge faced by the chemical industry, and finds that further education and collaboration between industry, academia and governments is critical for future prosperity.

[发布日期] 2016-10-01 [发布机构] CSIRO

[学科分类] 地球科学(综合)