Green Chemistry Principle 7

Principle 7 A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting, wherever technically and economically practicable.

Renewable Vs. Depleting Feedstocks The difference between the two can be described as ‘time’ Depleting resources normally last millions of years, but will never be replenished Renewable resources are easily regenerated within time frames that are accessible to the human lifetime.

Sustainability The extensive utilization of depleting resources is not sustainable either from an environmental or an economic point of view. Sustainability is defined as the ability to maintain the development of the quality of life while not compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. Example - If our generation consumed petroleum resources to the extent that they were no longer an option for future generation, the goals of sustainability would be violated.

Direct Environment Effects There has been a large impact on human health and the environment Coal mining Black lung and habitat destruction Petroleum Refining Oil spills & air pollution

Indirect environmental effects The nature of petroleum as the leading building block for the chemistry industry in the last half of the 20th century has caused a less obvious effect on human health. Petroleum hydrocarbons require the use of oxidation chemistry to functionalize and derivatize them in order to make a variety of other useful products. Oxidation chemistry has been one of the most polluting chemistry that has contributed to the risk human health and the environment, primarily through the use of heavy metals as oxidizing agents

Limited Supply Creates Economic Pressure As nonrenewable resources are depleted, the costs of the raw material will increase over time. As oil supplies are consumed, the prices of petroleum products will go up The use of biological feedstocks for constructing the same higher value chemicals is being studied.

Concerns About Biological Feedstocks Seasonal Supply The availability of certain biological feedstocks when they’re required Causes: Drought or crop failure could cause a feedstock to disappear Land/energy usage The land usage required in order to sustain the industrial products that are made using agricultural products as the foundation. Classical crops would be impractical for use as feedstocks because of the extensive energy and land required to produce them. Non-traditional biological products and processes are being developed and utilized to make renewable feedstocks feasible.

Example Ethanol is a renewable product that is made from corn