Sustainable Chemical Engineering: Challenges and Opportunities for Shaping our Future

Transcription

1 Sustainable Chemical Engineering: Challenges and Opportunities for Shaping our Future Adisa Azapagic The University of Manchester, UK

2 Or: How do we go from here

3 to somewhere here?

4 to somewhere here? Or should we be going there?

5 Acknowledgments: Sustainable Industrial Systems Group

6 Early days of chemical engineering Chemical Engineering in Jackson s Mill, Manchester, UK

7 From early days of chemical engineering...

8 ... to modern challenges Population growth Rapid urbanisation Food supply Water access Energy demand Climate change Resource scarcity

9 Population growth ( ) UNEP, % +21% +28% +4% West Asia North America Billion people % +26% Latin America & Caribbean Europe Africa Asia + Pacific

10 Food supply Million tonnes of food Milk and dairy (excl. butter) Meat (carcass weight) Vegetable oils, oilseeds and products Pulses Sugar Roots and tubers Cereals, food 0 FAO, / / / /

11 Water access CAWMA, Earthscan, and Colombo, London.

12 Providing energy: Primary energy demand outlook 14,000 12,000 IEA, World Energy Outlook 10,000 Mtoe 8,000 6,000 4,000 2, OECD Middle East Non-OECD Europe China and Eurasia Asia Non-OECD Africa Bunkers

13 Climate change: GHG emissions doubled since UNEP, Gt CO₂e Energy: production Energy: fuel flaring CO₂ Industry** Transport and conversion* and fugitive CH₄ Buildings Agriculture Forestry: fires Forestry: CO₂ and N₂O from wood decay Forestry: CO₂ from drained peat decay and peat fires Waste

14 Sectors and GHG gases Adapted from UNEP, 2012 Buildings 8% Waste 4% N2O 6% F-gases 2% Forestry 11% Energy 35% CH4 16% Agriculture 11% Transport 13% Industry 18% CO2 76%

15 Sustainable chemical engineering: Our answer to modern challenges Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs By designing and operating production systems that are Environmentally benign Economically viable Socially beneficial

16 Sustainability challenges Technological solutions must be provided within an industrial, environmental, social, regulatory and ethical framework Sustainability is not purely an engineering problem It is a wicked problem

17 Wicked problems Adapted from Rittel and Webber (1973) No definitive formulation No stopping rule Solutions are not true-or-false, but good-or-bad There is no possibility of learning by trial and error No well described set of potential solutions Symptoms of another problem Expectations that its owner will find the right answer

18 Examples of wicked problems Climate change, energy, water, food, waste, etc. Biofuels Improved energy security, lower carbon emissions BUT Land use change (GHG emissions) Overuse of water Introduction of non-native species Land rights and compulsory purchase Competition with food

19 Sustainability challenges Sustainability issues owe much of their wickedness to the nature of industrial/engineering systems as complex systems For every complex question there is a simple answer, and it is wrong. (H.L. Mencken)

20 The importance of systems approach and life cycle thinking Resources Env l impacts Economic costs Economic benefits Social impacts Social benefits

21 Some sustainability issues Resource depletion Global warming Energy Air pollution Water pollution Waste Costs Profits Investments Shareholder value Contribution to GDP Ozone depletion Acidification Biodiversity Toxicity Value added Employment Health and safety Education Equal opportunities Stakeholder involvement Customer satisfaction Wages and benefits

22 Turning challenges into opportunities: Key areas for chemical engineering Water Energy Resources Health Food

23 Energy

24 Energy: The life cycle Resources Env l impacts Economic costs Economic benefits Social impacts Social benefits

25 Key sustainability issues for energy Fossil fuels Climate change Security of supply Fuel poverty

26 Opportunities in energy Successful solutions Low-carbon Flexible Diverse Locally relevant Affordable Examples Energy efficiency Nuclear Renewables CCS and CCU Energy storage Unconventional gas and oil Biofuels for transport

27 Drivers: Fossil fuels and climate change Global warming potential (kg CO2 eq./kwh) ~ Coal (pulverised) Gas (CCGT) Nuclear (PWR) Wind (offshore) Solar (PV) Stamford & Azapagic (2012). Int. J. Energy Res

28 Some other environmental impacts Coal (pulverised) Gas (CCGT) Nuclear (PWR) Wind (offshore) Solar (PV) Global warming (kg CO2 eq./kwh) Ozone depletion (/100 mg CFC-11 eq./kwh) Acidification (/100 kg SO2 eq./kwh) Stamford & Azapagic (2012). Int. J. Energy Res Eutrophication (g PO43- eq./kwh) Photochemical smog (kg C2H4 eq./kwh)

29 Some techno-economic aspects Coal (pulverised) Gas (CCGT) Nuclear (PWR) Wind (offshore) Solar (PV) Capacity factor (%) Fuel price sensitivity (%) Levelised cost ( /MWh) Financial incentives ( /MWh) Stamford & Azapagic (2012). Int. J. Energy Res

30 Social impacts 120 Coal (pulverised) Gas (CCGT) Nuclear (PWR) Wind (offshore) Solar (PV) Employment: total (x10 personyrs/twh) Worker injuries (/10 injuries/twh) Human toxicity potential (g DCB eq./kwh) Radiation: total (DALY/TWh) Large accident fatalities (fatalities/pwh) Nuclear proliferation (ordinal scale) D elem Sb Stamford & Azapagic (2012). Int. J. Energy Res

31 Heat options: An example of heat pumps 1.0 Greening & Azapagic (2012). Energy, Air Ground Water Gas boiler Air Ground Water Gas boiler Air Ground Water Gas boiler Air Ground Water Gas boiler Air Ground Water Gas boiler Air Ground Water Gas boiler Depletion of fossil fuels (x 10 MJ/kWh) Global warming (kg CO2 eq./kwh) Acidification (g SO2 eq./kwh) Eutrophication (g PO4 eq./kwh) Human toxicity (kg DCB eq./kwh) Ozone layer depletion (mg R11 eq./kwh)

32 Heat options: An example of heat pumps Replacing gas boilers with the air source heat pumps is not sustainable Does not reduce GHG emissions and increases other life cycle impacts substantially Ground and water source heat pumps have marginally lower GHG emissions but increase other life cycle impacts High replacement costs

33 Biofuels

34 The life cycle of biofuels Resources Env l impacts Economic costs Economic benefits Social impacts Social benefits

35 Key sustainability issues for biofuels Feedstocks GHG emissions Land-use change Biodiversity Competition with food

36 Carbon footprint of ethanol Global warming potential (g CO2 eq./mj) Petrol Ethanol (corn, US) Ethanol (wheat, UK) Ethanol (sugar cane, Brazil) Ethanol from MSW (biogenic fraction) DfT. Carbon and sustainability reporting within the renewable transport fuel obligation requirements and guidance. London: Department for Transport; Stichnothe & Azapagic, Resources, Conservation and Recycling 53 (2009)

37 Comparison of other environmental impacts Petrol Bioethanol (wheat) Abiotic depletion (x10) (g Sb eq./mj) Acidification (g SO2 eq./mj) Eutrophication (g PO4 eq./mj) Terrestrial toxicity (g DCB eq./mj) Ecoinvent V2.2

38 Water

39 The life cycle of water Resources Env l impacts Economic costs Economic benefits Social impacts Social benefits

40 Key sustainability issues for water Water scarcity Up to 3 bn people will be living in water scarce areas by 2025 Access to clean water 1 bn people lack access Access to sanitation 2.5 bn people lack adequate sanitation Inefficient water use Water pollution

41 Some opportunities in water Improved water efficiency Reduction and reuse Better irrigation and water management systems New water sources Desalination Waste water Water treatment technologies Personal care products Nutrients Better understanding of the water footprint of different production systems

42 Water footprint of ethanol from corn in different countries 90 Jeswani & Azapagic, J Cleaner Prod. (2011) Water footprint (m3 eq./gj ethanol) Egypt Pakistan India Bulgaria South Africa Spain China Italy USA Argentina Mexico Brazil

43 Resources

44 The life cycle of resources Resources Env l impacts Economic costs Economic benefits Social impacts Social benefits

45 Key sustainability issues for resources Profligate and inequitable use Developed countries consume much more than developing countries Lack of/low reuse and recycling 90% of products become waste within 6 months Increasing scarcity The number of chemical companies affected by resource scarcity may triple by 2020 (IChemE)

46 Resource scarcity: Critical elements Hunt et al. (2013), Chapter 1, RSC Green Chemistry No. 22

47 How much is recycled? Hunt et al. (2013) Chapter 1, RSC Green Chemistry No. 22

48 Some opportunities in resources Catalysis Many of the critical elements used as catalysts: e.g. PGMs, Co, Ce, Ge, Sb, In Use of non-critical metals Use of non-metallic catalysts, e.g. enzymes Urban mining WEEE (50 million t/yr) MSW (1.6 bn t/yr) Road dust (PGMs) Landfills Delivering service rather than product

49 Delivering a service rather than product We don t sell a tin of paint we sell an effect on a wall Dulux Courtesy of Mike Pitts, TSB/CIKTN 1,500 petabytes shipped in 2009 Xyratex Power by the hour Rolls Royce

50 Food

51 The life cycle of food Resources Env l impacts Economic costs Economic benefits Social impacts Social benefits

52 Key sustainability issues for food GHG emissions Eutrophication Waste Land competition Food security GMO and stem cells

53 Opportunities in food (and drink) Improved agricultural practices and yields Improved process efficiencies Waste reduction and utilisation New technologies and foods Understanding the impacts of food

54 Meet production 300 million tonnes of meat worldwide (2012) 43 kg of beef per capita 1 kg of beef: 50 kg of feed 15,400 litres of water kg CO 2 eq. Beef production: 66.7 million tonnes/yr...

55 Meat replacement: Stem cells? Work of Prof. Mark Post, Maastricht University, 2013

56 Environmental impacts of meat vs cultured meat Beef Sheep Pork Poultry Cultured meat Energy use GHG emissions Land use Water use Based on Tuomisto et al. Env. Sci.& Tech. (2011) 45,

57 Cultured meet: Other sustainability issues Taste Appearance Unknown health impacts Consumer acceptance Ethical issues

58 Health

59 Key sustainability issues for health Diseases Healthcare accessibility Life expectancy Hunger and obesity

60 Hunger vs obesity Number of peopl (million) Hungry Overweight & obese 0 FAO & WHO, 2013

61 Opportunities in health: Pharma products Use of sustainable feedstocks Resource efficiency and waste minimisation Development of sustainable healthcare products Understanding the impacts

62 The life cycle of pharma products Resources Env l impacts Economic costs Economic benefits Social impacts Social benefits

63 Understanding the impacts of pharma products: An example Contribution to total carbon footprint (%) GSK, CSR report Materials Product use Production Distribution End of life

64 An example: Ventolin Used by asthma sufferers Main source of GHG emissions: propellant (HF134a) Contribution to GHG emissions Propellant use 95 Transport Packaging Production Materials GSK, CSR report Contribution (%)

65 An example: Ventolin Innovation opportunities Recycling used devices 10% recycling saves 35 t of CO 2 eq. Using alternative propellants with lower GHG emissions Using alternative products with low or no GHG emissions E.g. dry powder inhalers

66 Sustainable chemical engineering Shaping our future We face unprecedented challenges Much of engineering today is needed to overcome the problems engineering created in the past We should see this as a great opportunity - not to repeat the mistakes from the past Addressing the challenges requires systems approach and life cycle thinking Sustainability issues are wicked problems Understanding economic, environmental and social trade offs is essential

67 Sustainable chemical engineering Shaping our future Working with non-technical disciplines Understanding consumer behaviour Engaging with the public Providing robust evidence for policy makers Educating the next generation of chemical engineer with sustainability in mind Outward-looking chemical engineering that will play its role fully in building a more sustainable future