1

Chemistry Project
Name: Ashera Siromanie
Year: 12B
THE WESTMINsTER SCHOOL,DUBAI

GREEN
CHEMISTRY
MaybeIshoulddriveahybrid.Idohaveashirt
thatsays,'GoGreen.'
AmandaSeyfried

GreenChemistryreferstotheprocessesin
thechemicalindustrythatarebeing
reinventedtomakethemmoresustainable.
Thetermsustainmeanstokeepgoing.
Ifweuseresourcesfasterthantheycanbe
replaced,clearlythisisasituationthat
cannotkeepgoing.
Sustainabilityisaboutlivinginawaythat
preservesresourcesandtheenvironmentfor
futuregenerations.
Theideaofgreenchemistryistoobtainall
thevaluableproducts,butinwaysthatdo
notdamagetheenvironment.Green
chemistryisaboutmakingthechemical
industrymoresustainable.
TheChemicalindustryneedstobecome
greenerto;
Reducewaste.
Developmoreeconomicallyviable
processes.
Reducetheirenvironmentimpact.
Savelimitedresources.

GREEN CHEMISTRY IS
REPLACING OUR
INDUSTRIAL
CHEMISTRY WITH
NATURE'S RECIPE
BOOK. IT'S NOT EASY,
BECAUSE LIFE USES
ONLY A SUBSET OF
THE ELEMENTS IN THE
PERIODIC TABLE. AND
WE USE ALL OF THEM,
EVEN THE TOXIC ONES.
JANINE BENYUS

2
THE FIVE W
CHEMIC

YS IN WHICH THE

L INDUSTRY C

N BECOME

GREENER

Changetorenewableresources.
Findalternativestoveryhazardouschemicals.
Discovercatalystsforreactionswithhighatomeconomies,e.g.the
developmentofmethodsusedtoproduceethanoicacidbasedon
catalystsofcobalt,rhodiumandiridium
Makemoreefficientuseofenergy,e.g.theuseofmicrowave
energytoheatreactionsinthepharmaceuticalindustry
Reducewasteandpreventpollutionoftheenvironment.
Changing to renewable sources

Ifrenewableresourcesreplacenonrenewablematerialsraw
materialswillbeconservedandtheprocessbecomesmore
sustainable.Plantscanbeusedasasourceofcertainorganic
compoundsinsteadofoil.Thesecanbeextracteddirectlyfrom
plantsorderivedfromprocessingplantmaterial,suchasusing
fermentationtoproduceethanolfromplantstarchandsugars.
Use of alternatives to hazardous chemicals

Thisinvolvesreplacingdangerouschemicalsusedinaprocesswith
lessharmfulchemicalswhichcandothesamejob.Itincludeschanging
processessothatlessriskyreagentsareusedorlessdestructive
intermediatesareformed.Italsoincludesusinglessdamagingsolvents
foraprocess.
Use of more efficient catalysts

Introductionofmoreefficientcatalystenableslowertemperaturesand
pressurestobeusedandsosavesenergy.Moreefficientcatalysts
createfewerbyeproductsandsoreducewaste.

Reduction of energy use

Changingtoprocessesthatuselowerpressuresandtemperatures
reducetheenergyrequiredtomakeagivenproduct.Useofexothermic
reactionstoprovideheatreducestheamountofnonrenewableenergy
used,forexampleintroducingaheattransfersystem(usinghotproducts
toheatincomingreactants).Useofmicrowavesinsteadofhotplates
allowsmoreefficientheating,asitheatstherelevantmoleculesdirectly.
Reduction in the amount of waste

Recyclingmaterialsmeansthatlesswasteisproduced.Making
biodegradableproductsmeansthattheycanbebrokendownby
naturalprocessesandsoreducethematerialsthatneedtobetreated
afteruse.

EXAMPLES
1
POLYLACTIC

2
A

CID

Anexampleofthisistheproductionofthe
biodegradableplastic,polylacticacid,PLA.
Thelacticacid,2hydroxypropanoicacid,for
thisprocesscanbeproducedbyusingbacteria
tocarryouttheconversionfromplantstarch
andsugars.

Sincelacticacidisasubstanceproducedbyliving
organismsitmeansthatthePLAisbiodegradable.

ROUNDUP

Anewprocessfortheproductionofa
herbicidecalledRoundupwasdeveloped.
Theoriginalprocessrequiredtheuseof
methanol(toxic)andhydrogencyanide
(extremelytoxic),butthenewprocess,using
acoppercatalyst,doesnotusethese
materials.Thenewprocessutilizes
endothermicreactions,soitissaferand
easiertocontrol.Theoriginalprocess
produced14%waste,whereasthenew
processreusesthecatalystandrecycles
anyotherunconvertedchemicals,andso
hasnowaste.Thenewprocessusesfewer
stepsandsoproducesahigheryield.

3
ETHANOIC

CID

Ethanoicacidcanbemanufacturedfrommethanol
andcarbonmonoxide:
CH3OH+CO>CH3CO2H
Anewprocessusesacombinationcatalyst
consistingofiridiumwithrutheniumcompounds.
Thiscatalystproducespurerethanoicacidandso
reducestheenergyrequiredforthepurification.

SUMM A RY

The table below summarises which of the new processes fulfills the five
main ways of making the chemical industry more sustainable.

PLA
Renewable resources
Alternative to
hazardous chemicals
Development of new
catalyst
More efficient energy
use
Reduction in waste

Roundup

Ethanoic acid

Main Industrial Effects on the Environment

GLOBAL CLIMATE
CHANGE
Products or waste products
may enter the atmosphere and
absorb Infra red radiation, thus
leading to increased global
climate change - anthropogenic
climate change e.g. Carbon
dioxide, methane.

CID RAIN

Productsorwasteproducts
mayentertheatmosphereand
dissolveincloudstoformacid
rain,thusleadingtochangeof
soilpHandriverwaterpHetc.
e.g.Sulphurdioxide,nitrogen
oxides,carbondioxide.

OZONE DEPLETION
Products or waste products may
enter the atmosphere and lead to
ozone depletion, thus leading to
increased levels of UV radiation
reaching the Earths surface. e.g.
CFCs, products from combustion
of plastics and Nitrogen oxides.

Climate
change
The clear and present danger of climate change means we
cannot burn our way to prosperity. We already rely too
heavily on fossil fuels. We need to find a new, sustainable
path to the future we want. We need a clean industrial
revolution.
Ban Ki-moon

Oneofthekeyconcernsofsustainabilityis
preventingdamagetotheenvironment.The
atmosphereisavitalpartoftheEarths
environment,andsotheeffectofpeoples
activitiesontheatmosphereneedstobe
understoodandmonitored.TheEarthreceives
radiationfromthesun.Thisarrivesmainlyas
visiblelightandultravioletradiation.Certain
proportionsofthisradiationareabsorbedbythe
atmosphereorreflectedintospace.Abouthalfof
itreachesthesurfaceoftheEarth,whereitis
absorbedandreradiated,butatalowerenergy;
intheinfraredfrequency.
Somegasesintheatmosphereabsorbinfrared
radiation.Nitrogenandoxygen,themaingases
intheatmospheredonotabsorbinfrared
radiationastheyarecompletelynonpolar.
Gasescomposedofpolarmoleculesdoabsorb
infraredradiation.Whenthemoleculesabsorb
infraredtheyincreasetheirvibrationandtheir
kineticenergy,whichofcourseincreasesto
temperature.Suchgasesarethereforecalled
greenhousegasesandcanberesponsiblefor
climatechangeorglobalwarming.

Carbondioxide,watervapourand
methanearethemaingreenhousegases.
Theatmospherenaturallycontainsa
certainlevelofcarbondioxide,buthuman
activityincreasestheselevels.Theeffects
ofhumanactivityarecalledanthropogenic
effects.Scientistsareabletousecomputer
projectionstoplottheexpectedclimate
basedontherebeingnoanthropogenic
carbondioxide.Whentheseprojections
arecomparedwithplotsofglobal
temperatures,theyshowclearlythatitis
theanthropogeniccarbondioxidethatis
responsibleforclimatechange.
Theextenttowhichhumanactivityplaced
carbondioxideintotheatmospherecanbe
measuredbyuseofthecarbonfootprint.
Thecarbonfootprintisthequantityof
carbondioxideacertainitemoractivity
placesintotheairinacompletecycle.The
carbonfootprintismeasuredintonesof
carbondioxide.Ifanyitemorprocess,
wheninputandoutputofcarbondioxideis
considered,doesnotaddanycarbon
dioxidetotheatmosphere,itisdesignated
carbonneutral.

lternative fuels

Useoffossilfuelsasenergysourcesfor
TheproductionofethanolintheUSA
vehicles,powergenerationplantsor
usesfertilizersandpesticideswhichhave
domesticheatingisoneofthekey
takenenergy(formoil)tomake.The
activitieswhichplacescarbondioxideinto ethanolthenneedstobeseparatedby
theatmosphere.Ifthesecanbemade
distillation,aprocessagainwhichuses
carbonneutralorhavetheircarbon
energyfromoil.Biodieselismore
footprintreduced,itisadvantageousto effectiveinreducingthecarbonfootprint
theenvironment.Onewayofreducing
becauseitdoesnotrequiredistillation.
thecarbonfootprintistousebiofuels.
Hydrogenisamuchbetteralternative
Theprincipleofabiofuelisthattheyare fuelasitonlyproduceswaterwhenitis
formedbyplantsthattakeupcarbon
burnt.Thekeypointabouthydrogenis
dioxidefromtheairtomaketheplant
howitisproduced.Ifitismadeby
materialwhichisthenconvertedintofuel, electrolysisusingmainselectricalsupply,
andwhenthefuelisburnt,itsimplyputs itcanstillhavealargecarbonfootprintif
backintotheairthecarbondioxideit
theelectricalgenerationinvolvesthe
originallyremoved,sooverallitdoesnot combustionoffossilfuels.Inthesame
addtothecarbondioxidelevel,andcan wayhydrogengeneratedbythereaction
thereforebedescribedascarbonneutral. ofmethanewithsteam,thefinalproducts
Thissimpleviewofbiofuelsdoesnot beinghydrogenandcarbondioxide,hasa
howeverprovidethefullpicture.
significantcarbonfootprint.Hydrogen
Bioethanolforexampleisproducedfrom
producedbyelectrolysis,wherethe
sugarcaneinBrazilandfrommaizeinthe
electricalenergywasderivedfrom
USA.
sunlightwouldofcoursebevery
environmentallyfriendly.

We must shift the energy policy

debate in America with an increased
focus on alternative and renewable
fuels and Congress must pass
meaningful alternative fuels and
incentive programs to help move the
U.S. away from dependence on foreign
oil.
Rick Renzi

The ozone layer and CFCs

Theatmosphereiscomposedofseverallayers.Mostpollutant
moleculesarebrokendownbeforetheyreachtheupperatmosphere.
Howeveritispossibleforsomeparticularlystablemoleculestoenter
theupperatmosphere.Onesuchtypeofmoleculearethe
chlorofluorocarbons,CFCs,whicharestablebecauseofthestrengthof
theCFbond.Thesewereusedinaerosolsandrefrigerants.When
theyentertheupperatmosphere,theCFCscandamagetheozone
layer.
Theozonelayerisformedbytheenergyfromthesunsultraviolet
radiationbeingabletosplitanoxygenmoleculeintotwooxygenatoms.

Theoxygenatomformedcanthencombinewithanoxygenmoleculetoform
ozone,O3.

TheozoneformedisabletoabsorbharmfulultravioletradiationfromtheSun,so
protectingtheEarthssurfacefromtheserays.Whenthishappensthereaction
aboveisreversed.

Inthe1980sitwasdiscoveredthatthisprotectiveozonelayerwasdiminishing
duringthesummerovertheAntarcticandthattheholewasincreasinginsize.
ChemiststrackedthecausedowntotheCFCs.ThestabilityofCFCsmeansthat
theyarenotbrokendownintheloweratmosphere,butwhentheyreachtheupper
atmospheretheuvradiationcausestheCClbondtobebrokenformingCl
radicals.Theseradicalsthenreactwithozoneasfollows:

Theradicalthenproceedstoreactwiththeoxygenatomspresentinthe
stratosphere:

Thisreactionremovesoxygenatomsthatcouldotherwisegeneratemoreozone,
butitalsoregeneratestheClradical,allowingaseriesofreactiontotakeplace
similartothepropagationstagesofthechlorinationofmethane.Itisestimated
thatoneClradicalcanbreakdownamillionozonemolecules.
AsaresultscientistsrecommendedthephasingoutofCFCs.In1987aUnited
NationsconferencewasheldinMontrealtotackletheproblemandan
agreementwasestablishedinwhichtherewouldbeaphasedreductioninthe
useofCFCsleadingtoaneventualban.Thisagreementwascalledthe
MontrealProtocol.

Bibliography
http://www.physicsandmathstutor.com/chemistryrevision/edexcelunit2/
greenchemistry
https://www.brainyquote.com

picturesaretakenfromgoogle