17. April 2023, 14:00 until 18:00
John Warner Lectures on Green Chemistry
John is a chemistry inventor who works to design and create commercial technologies inspired by nature consistent with the principles of green chemistry. With over 300 patents, he has invented solutions for dozens of multinational corporations. His inventions have also served as the basis for several new companies.
Meet Green Chemistry, Meet John Warner
Green Chemistry: The Missing Elements
14:00 Hrs – Student Lecture
Aimed for students and young researchers
Imagine if every consumer, every retailer, every brand owner and every manufacturer decided to buy, use, sell and make ONLY climate neutral, sustainable, green chemistry products. The unfortunate reality is that, even if this situation were to occur, our knowledge of materials science and chemistry would allow us to provide only a small fraction of the necessary products and materials that our economy is based upon., The way we learn and teach chemistry and materials science in academia is for the most part void of any information regarding mechanisms of toxicity and environmental harm. Green Chemistry is a science that seeks to reduce or eliminate the use of hazardous materials at the design stage of a materials process. It has been demonstrated that materials and products CAN be designed with negligible impact on human health and the environment while still being economically competitive and successful in the marketplace. This presentation will describe the history and background of Green Chemistry and describe how it relates to other approaches (sustainable chemistry, circular economy…) to create a sustainable future.
Green Chemistry, the Sustainability Pendulum and the Circular Economy
16:00 Hrs – Scientific Presentation
Aimed for more technical researchers
The materials economy can be thought of as a pendulum with the field of chemistry at its apex. In one direction, the human-built world manifests through manufacturing and recycling. In the other direction, the natural world is a combination of extraction and degradation. The overlap between these two termini of the pendulum is a useful quantitative assessment of sustainability. This presentation will describe the 5 embedded cycles of use/reuse, assembly/disassembly, materials metabolism, regeneration and stable ecosystems. Examples from both the human-built world and the natural world will be presented to illustrate the issues and opportunities for green chemistry to design a sustainable future.
