Design of chemical processes to minimize energy usage and waste, such as using lower energy reactions, improving heat transfer, and optimizing reaction conditions.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): It is a tool used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product or process throughout its entire life cycle, from raw material extraction to disposal.
Process Intensification: It is a strategy that aims to maximize the efficiency of a chemical process while minimizing waste and resource consumption.
Renewable Energy Sources: This includes solar, wind, hydroelectricity, geothermal, and biomass energy sources that can be used to power green chemistry processes.
Green Solvents: The use of solvents that reduce or eliminate the harmful environmental impact of traditional organic solvents.
Carbon Footprint: It is a measure of the total amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted during the production, use, and disposal of a product or process.
Sustainable Materials: The use of sustainable, eco-friendly materials that are sourced in a responsible and ethical manner.
Energy Recovery: It is the process of recovering usable energy from waste products, reducing the overall energy consumption of a process.
Catalysis: The development and use of new catalysts that improve the efficiency of chemical reactions and reduce waste.
Process Optimization: A strategy that aims to optimize the operating conditions of a chemical process to reduce waste and energy consumption while increasing product yield.
Green Chemistry Metrics: These are quantifiable metrics used to evaluate the environmental impact of a chemical process, such as energy and material intensity, waste generation, air and water pollution, and toxicity.
Catalysis: It is the process of accelerating a chemical reaction by adding a catalyst that remains unchanged after the reaction. It can reduce the amount of energy needed to carry out the reaction by enhancing the rate of reaction.
Solvents substitution: It involves using alternative solvents to replace conventional ones that are harmful to the environment. The process aims to eliminate or reduce toxicity, flammability, volatility, and other harmful properties.
Microwave-assisted chemistry: It is a technique that involves using microwaves to heat chemical reactions. It can significantly reduce reaction times and improve efficiency, saving energy and reducing waste.
Electrochemical processes: It uses electricity to drive chemical reactions. These processes are often sustainable as the reactants are in the form of electricity, and the products may be recovered or recycled.
Supercritical fluids: These are substances that are maintained at a pressure and temperature above their critical points, allowing them to behave as both liquids and gases. They can substitute organic solvents in reactions, being environmentally friendly and cost-effective.
Photochemistry: It uses light to trigger and drive chemical reactions. It is an efficient and sustainable method of carrying out chemical reactions, reducing the need for energy in traditional heating methods.
Biocatalysis: It involves using enzymes or whole cells as catalysts to drive chemical reactions. It is an environmentally friendly process, and it can enable the synthesis of complex organic molecules with high product purity.
Atom economic processes: These are reactions with minimum waste generation, which utilize maximum starting materials to yield the targeted product, thus reducing energy consumption and pollution.
Renewable feedstocks: These are feedstocks derived from renewable resources such as biomass, solar, wind, etc. They can provide a carbon-neutral supply of starting materials for synthetic processes.
Process intensification: It involves optimizing and integrating the different stages of a chemical process to reduce energy and material consumption, time, and space, thus reducing environmental footprints.