Energy in Chemical Processing

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Course on Green Chemistry Todai Kashiwa April
May 2008

Energy in Chemical Processing And Renewable
Feedstocks
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  "Succeeding generations are going to curse us
for burning their future raw materials for
burning their clothing, their medicines, their
agrochemicals, their home furnishings and they
will be right." -- Prof. Ronald Breslow AAAS
Meeting (Washington, DC, 2000) Quoted in Chem
Eng News (March 6 2000, p. 5)

 

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Global Energy Use 2000 Watts / person 14
Terawatts
410 ExaJoules (1018J)/year

-- Prof. G. McRae, M.I.T.
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Prices seem to reflect this expectation

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Energy use in Chemical Processing Heating
(both material and container) and Cooling back
down Distillation Stirring Piping and
Pumping Transporting raw materials and
finished products
Heating Stirring Piping Heating Stirring
Piping Transporting Cooling
Distilling Energy use in conventional Chemical
Transporting Cooling Distilling Energy use in
conventional Chemical

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and what is used to make the chemical products
we all use?
How is petroleum used in the U.S.?

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Many chemicals used by the chemical industry can
be derived from biomass, potentially reducing the
industrys reliance on petroleum -- D.R.
Dodds and R.A. Gross Chemicals from
Biomass Science 318, 1250
(2007) There is a tremendous potential to
supplement and supplant the petroleum resources
used today to manufacture billions of pounds of
important chemical products The available
biomass resources represent enough energy to
manufacture more than 300 million pounds of
organic chemicals. -- M. Paster, J.
Pellegrino, T. Carole Industrial Bioproducts
Today and Tomorrow Report to the US
Department of Energy (2003)

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http//www.natureworksllc.com/media/files/from20c
or20to20plastic/corn20to20plastics20poster_02
20132006_final.pdf

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-- a biodegradable material (Mater-Bi) from
Novamont (Italy)

PlayMais is made from corn and water and dyed
with natural and food colors.  It does not
contain toxic ingredients and is therefore safe
to play with. Nevertheless, we recommend having
fun playing, but not eating it.
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• Critical Issues concerning Energy Feedstocks
• Consumption of energy derived from fossil fuels
  must be reduced substantially. This is imperative
  because of climate change 2008?5?2?.
• The chemical industry is a major energy
  consumer.
• The global supply of petroleum used as both an
  energy source and a chemical feedstock may be
  starting to run out.
• Renewable, i.e., biomass derived resources are
  in increasing demand as a replacement for
  petroleum, both for energy generation and
  chemical feedstock.
• But these resources viz. corn, rice, soy, etc.
  -- are also the base of the human food chain.
• A holistic Life Cycle Assessment is essential!