Green Chemistry Blog

Green Chemistry has recently published an article on the topic of fracking entitled ‘Stimuli-responsive/rheoreversible hydraulic fracturing fluids as a greener alternative to support geothermal and fossil energy production’. This manuscript caused some debate at the Editorial Office in Cambridge due to the controversial nature of fracking and, more specifically, the validity of publishing an article on this topic in Green Chemistry.

After examination by a number of reviewers, the Editorial Office and the Chair of the Editorial Board, Professor Walter Leitner, it was decided that the manuscript was suitable for publication in Green Chemistry. However, given the controversy surrounding this topic we felt the article should be accompanied by an Editorial explaining to the community why we chose to publish and offering an avenue for debate and discussion via the online comments section on this blog.

Professor Leitner has prepared an Editorial that can be viewed below and we invite an open discussion via the comments thread of this blog. We welcome any comments to be made or opinions voiced.

If you would like to contact the Editorial Office directly you can do so by emailing green-rsc@rsc.org.

The subject of ‘fracking’ in Green Chemistry

Chair of the Editorial Board Walter Leitner discusses the subject of ‘fracking’ in Green Chemistry.

Dear Readers,

On 2nd October 2014, we received a manuscript entitled “Stimuli-Responsive/Rheoreversible Hydraulic Fracturing Fluids as an Alternative to Support Geothermal and Fossil Energy Production” at the Cambridge office. Upon careful examination of its content, we had a very serious discussion at the Editorial Office on whether the paper would fall within the scope of Green Chemistry and should be sent out for review. In the end, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to have the scientific quality examined through the review process and to gather the opinions of those reviewers on whether the work was in keeping with the Principles of Green Chemistry. Three referees suggested acceptance with some revisions, and you can find the final result published in this issue (DOI: 10.1039/C4GC01917B).

It is highly unusual to comment on a single paper and in particular on the reviewing process in an Editorial. Let me try to explain the reasons for this, which are closely related to our initial (and still existing) dilemma. Fracking is a very controversial technique for which a number of potential hazards to the environment are discussed. Most significantly, one may raise the fundamental question of whether an increased exploitation of fossil resources is inherently incompatible with the Principles of Green Chemistry. To be honest, we were unable to find a consensus and a final answer to this question ourselves. Thus, we turned to the classical maxim “in dubio pro reo” (Lat.: when in doubt, for the accused) and decided to evaluate primarily the scientific and technological aspects of the work.

When asked about the relationship between Sustainable Development and Green Chemistry, I have often used the phrase “If Sustainability is your goal, Green Chemistry is the way”. Is unconventional oil and gas recovery a sustainable technology? Certainly not in the long term – but it is and will be for quite some time influencing the basis of our raw material and energetic value chain, having an enormous impact on many aspects of our environment today. “That’s a fact. It’s a thing we can’t deny” (Katie Melua, Nine Million Bicycles). Thus, we cannot close our eyes and ignore the environmental problems that are associated with this technology. One of them is the use of the fracking fluid and all reviewers agreed that the authors of the study have carried out a sound and in depth study and presented data that might help to lower the impact of this particular aspect of the fracking industry. They have addressed this important issue following a molecular design approach in line with green chemistry principles.

Does this mean that we will now all at a sudden encourage the green chemistry community to focus on improvements of existing technologies, even if they are only incremental steps aside into the right direction on otherwise clearly unsustainable paths? Certainly not: we need to continue our efforts to contribute with fundamentally new approaches to a sustainable chemical industry and lay the basis for disruptive green technologies. However, we also recognize that things are not always black or white and there are more than 50 shades of green. In this particular case, we have decided to bring the topic on the table and to shed some light on the chemistry that is involved in fracking from the green chemistry perspective. We would be very much interested to get your feedback on this decision and have opened a discussion forum on the Green Chemistry blog.

I wish you a stimulating reading, not just with this article, but of course also with the many other fascinating examples of scientific creativity and dedicated research efforts in the issues of the Green Chemistry journal.

Walter Leitner

Written by William Bergius

In an ingenious application of food chemistry more commonly associated with the searing of steak or baking of bread, scientists in Singapore have developed a green synthesis for well-defined copper nanowires (CuNWs).

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is the most widely used transparent conductor in today’s consumer technology, featuring in solar cells, touch screens and LED displays. However, alternatives are being sought due to the high cost and finite supply of indium. Films made from silver or copper nanowires are promising candidates, exhibiting high conductivity and optical transparency in addition to being flexible….

The Maillard reaction is responsibile for the delicious aroma of baked bread, grilled steak and roasted coffee © iStock photo

Interested to know more?

Read the full article by William Bergius here

Read the research article in GC:

Facile control of copper nanowire dimensions via the Maillard reaction: using food chemistry for fabricating large-scale transparent flexible conductors

M. Kevin, Gregory Y. R. Limb and  G. W. Ho  

Green Chem., 2015, Advance Article

DOI: 10.1039/C4GC01566E

Green Chemistry would like to congratulate the recent winners of the EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards promote the environmental and economic benefits of developing and using novel green chemistry. These prestigious annual awards recognize chemical technologies that incorporate the principles of green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture, and use. The 2014 submissions were formally judged by an independent panel of technical experts convened by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute.

The winners include:

• Academic: Professor Shannon S. Stahl, University of Madison for his work on developing aerobic oxidation methods for Pharmaceutical Synthesis.
• Small Business: Amyris, for engineering a yeast to make a renewable fuel replacement for petroleum diesel.
• Designing Greener Chemicals: The Solberg Company, for developing a new safer firefighting foam which is free from persistent toxic chemicals.
• Greener Reaction Conditions: QD Vision, Inc., for the production of new LED lighting material that can bring massive energy savings.
• Greener Synthetic Pathways: Solazyme, Inc., for making soaps, laundry detergents, food products and fuels while reducing energy and water use, waste and impacts on forests.

For further information on the award winning research and how to enter for the 2015 awards take a look at the EPA website.

Paper cannot be recycled into new paper indefinitely

A process for generating aluminium–aluminium bonding adhesives from waste office paper could give a purpose to paper than can no longer be recycled into more paper. 

Paper can typically only be recycled as a new paper product 3–4 times, after this the fibres become too short to be used in new paper or cardboard. Finding alternative ways of reusing this readily available resource is crucial.

To read the full article please visit Chemistry World.

Low-temperature microwave-assisted pyrolysis of waste office paper and the application of bio-oil as an Al adhesive
Zhanrong Zhang, Duncan J. Macquarrie, Mario De bruyn, Vitaliy L. Budarin, Andrew J. Hunt, Mark J. Gronnow, Jiajun Fan, Peter S. Shuttleworth, James H. Clark and Avtar S. Matharu  
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00768A, Paper

The first systematic environmental assessment of an industrial plant that produces polyols from carbon dioxide has revealed that they significantly reduce both carbon dioxide emissions and the demand on fossil fuel reserves.

Polyols are the major component of polyurethanes, which make up foams or thermoplastic urethanes in a wide range of applications from mattresses to ski boots. Most polymers are made from fossil fuel-based feedstocks.

To read more on this article please visit Chemistry World.

Life cycle assessment of polyols for polyurethane production using CO2 as feedstock: insights from an industrial case study
Niklas von der Assen and André Bardow  
Green Chem., 2014,16, 3272-3280
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00513A

A biocatalytic cascade using mashed-up cells has overcome extraction and solubility problems associated with using enzymes in chemical syntheses.

Enzymes are excellent catalysts for making chiral molecules. One-pot reactions under mild conditions are often possible with more than one catalyst, allowing multi-step syntheses in one go. But if enzymes are used as catalysts, they have to be extracted and purified, and expensive co-factors often need to be added. There are also solubility issues: enzymes are usually most active in buffers, but many of their substrates are hydrophobic, limiting the productivity of the biotransformation because the substrate won’t dissolve in aqueous buffers.

It is thought that the cell envelope helps to stabilise the enzymes in organic solvent

 To read more on this article please visit Chemistry World.

A two-step biocatalytic cascade in micro-aqueous medium: using whole cells to obtain high concentrations of a vicinal diol
Andre Jakoblinnerta and Dörte Rother  
Green Chem., 2014, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C4GC00010B