John Arnold. 2 nd Annual BCGC Symposium May 3, 2012

Transcription

1 John Arnold Professor, Department of Chemistry and Director, Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry University of California, Berkeley 2 nd Annual BCGC Symposium May 3, 2012

2 Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry: An Integrative Approach Engineering Natural Resources Collaboratively Advancing Sustainable Solutions Chemistry Business Public Health bcgc.berkeley.edu

3 BCGC: A Multidisciplinary Concept Education & Outreach Health & Environment Integrative Sciences New Chemistries Business & Economics Policy & Law Faculty Director: Prof. John Arnold, College of Chemistry Executive Director: Dr Marty Mulvihill Integrative Sciences Associate Director: Dr. Michael P. Wilson, COEH, School of Public Health New Chemistries Associate Director: Prof. Richmond Sarpong, College of Chemistry Health & Environment Associate Director: Dr. Megan Schwarzman, COEH, School of Public Health Policy & Law Associate Director: Prof. Alastair Iles, Society & Environment, College of Natural Resources Business and Economy Associate Director: Prof. Christine Rosen, Haas School of Business

4 Curriculum Development: Undergraduate Laboratories With re-designed laboratory curriculum, 3,000 students/year can now Practice green chemistry: Extract natural dyes from food Depolymerize a biobased plastic (polylactide) Synthesize biodiesel Formulate a safer pesticide: extraction of limonene from orange peel Learn in context: Measure heat of combustion of a variety of bio fuels Study CO 2 and the acidification of aquatic habitats Control equilibrium in a bio-based ink Identify an unknown acid in the environment Use greener laboratory practices: New analytical methods replace chlorinated solvents with liquid CO2 for extraction and ethyl acetate for gas chromatography Funding: Seed funding for curriculum development from Cal EPA-DTSC ( ) New grant in 2012 from Dow Foundation to continue development in College of Chemistry Teaching Resources available: and

5 Curriculum Development: Interdisciplinary Graduate Courses A suite of new courses provides the intellectual framework for understanding and addressing challenges presented society s use of hazardous chemicals. Introduction to Green Chemistry: An Interdisciplinary approach to sustainability All teaching materials, including taped lectures and notes, are available on the BCGC website Advanced Topics in Green Chemistry Engineering & Health Impact methods for Green Design Toxicology Basics for Green Molecular Design Ethics and Decision-Making in Green Chemistry Under development for : The Public Ethics of Green Chemistry: a 3-unit semester-length course exploring the tradeoffs inherent in sustainable growth and the values expressed by decisions made in public policy and business. Supported by grants from NSF ($300,000) and the EU Center for Excellence ($5,000) Teaching Resources available:

6 Green Chemistry Commitment Goals: Work with higher education institutions Highlight existing work and programs Unite the community around common goals & objectives Systematically bring Green Chemistry in to academia for lasting change To transform chemistry education Process: First draft (January 2011) Talking to the community, gathering feedback Formation of Faculty Advisory Board (summer 2011) Creation of GCC Version 2.2 Green Chemistry Commitment Summit (January 2012) Talking to the community, gathering feedback Finalizing GCC (March Sept. 2012) Dissemination and Roll-out (target: October 2012)

7 Greener Solutions Program A 3-unit experiential learning course that will put interdisciplinary student teams to work on challenges posed by a host organization In April, 2012 we received a grant from DTSC to develop the Greener Solutions Program, a project-based course that puts UCB graduate students to work on a research question relevant to the needs of an organization working to advance green chemistry. Projects for Fall semester, 2012: Assessing the impact of residual contaminants in building materials, Reducing the impact of e-waste recycling, and Identifying viable alternatives to epoxies and halogenated compounds in printed circuit boards. Partners: Hewlett-Packard Healthy Building Network

8 Research Projects Plum (Public Library of Materials) In June 2011, we launched the beta version of this free, open-access database that provides meaningful ways to navigate, search and filter the information in scientific and regulatory lists of chemicals that are known to be hazardous to human or environmental health. Breast Cancer & Chemicals Testing Building on work published in 2010, BCGC researchers received a three-year grant to develop toxicity tests to improve the identification of chemicals that may contribute to the risk of breast cancer.

9 BCGC Initiative: NSF IGERT Grant 2012 Systems Approach to Green Energy (SAGE) PI: Chris Vulpe, UCB. Co-PIs: John Arnold, Alastair Iles, Robert Spear

10 Outreach: Supporting Decision Makers Researchers in the BCGC are called upon to provide testimony to the California Legislature, and to serve on advisory boards, including: Green Ribbon Science Panel (Cal/EPA) Biomonitoring Science Guidance Panel (Cal/EPA) Cumulative Impacts and Precautionary Approaches work group (Cal/EPA) Green Chemistry Commitment, an NGO, university & government collaboration to advance green chemistry education.

11 Publications in 2011 Alastair Iles, Greening chemistry: emerging epistemic political tensions in California and the United States, Public Understanding of Science, 2011, DOI: / Schwarzman MR, and Wilson MP Reshaping Chemicals Policy on Two Sides of the Atlantic: The Promise of Improved Sustainability through International Collaboration. In Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: The Shifting Roles of the EU, the US and California. Vogel D. and Swinnen JFM eds. Edward Elgar Publishing Inc. Northampton, MA, Marty Mulvihill, Evan Beach, Julie Zimmerman and Paul Anastas, Green Chemistry and Green Engineering: A Framework for Sustainable Technology Development, Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2011, DOI: /annurevenviron Schwarzman MR, and Wilson MP. Reshaping Chemicals Policy on Two Sides of the Atlantic: The Promise of Improved Sustainability through International Collaboration, in Vogel D. and Swinnen JFM eds. Transatlantic Regulatory Cooperation: The Shifting Roles of the EU, the US and California. Edward Elgar Publishing Inc. Northampton, MA, Wilson MP, Chia D, Ehlers B. Green Chemistry in California: A Framework for Leadership in Chemicals Policy and Innovation, in Clapp R. ed. From Critical Science to Solutions: The Best of Scientific Solutions. Baywood Publishing, New York, 2012.