Catalysis sustainable production

The workshop was organized by the NRSC-Catalysis (National Research School Combination Catalysis) of The Netherlands within the framework of the activities of the EU Network of Excellence (NoE) IDECAT (Integrated Design of Catalytic Nanomaterials for a Sustainable Production). 

The building blocks for sustainable product and process design are engineering, catalysis and chemical synthesis to achieve intensified, more eco-efficient, environmentally benign and competitive processes and production technologies. 

Catalysis is also one of the key enabling factors for the European Technology Platform of Sustainable Chemistry (www.suschem.org). A specific coordination of European innovation-driven research in the field of catalysis and sustainable chemistry has been made by the ACENET ERA-NET network (www.acenet.net) and a European N etwork of Excellence (ID EC AT, www.idecat.org) has been dedicated to the role of catalysis for sustainable production and energy. In Japan the Green and Sustainable Chemistry Network (www.gscn.net) dedicates much attention to catalysis. 

Catalysis is of major socio-economic importance. To solve future problems connected with limited resources and energy, as well as environmental protection, there is no way around catalysis. In fact, we can regard catalysis as the key technology for the sustainable production of chemicals since efficient catalysis saves raw materials and energy and avoids waste formation. 

Adapted from Lee, A.F., Wilson, K., 2014. Recent developments in heterogeneous catalysis for the sustainable production of biodiesel. Catalysis Today 242(Part A), 3—18. Available at http // WWW.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0920586114003034 (accessed 13.06.14.) with permission from Elsevier. 

Die Natur der Chemie, FUTURE (Hoechst Magazin), August 1996 Vision of large-scale production in shoebox-sized plants nature and plant ceUs as model for micro reactors sustainable development central role of catalysis general advantages of micro flow use of clean raw materials minimization of waste the next step in the sequence acetylene-to-efhylene chemistry ethane chemistry renewable resources combinatorial chemistry intelligent and creative solutions [229]. 

Lamy, C., Coutanceau, C., and Leger, J.-M. (2009) The direct ethanol fuel cell a challenge to convert bioethanol cleanly into electric energy, in Catalysis for Sustainable Energy Production, (eds P. Barbaro and C. Bianchini), Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, Weinheim, pp. 3-46. 

Bioethanol upgrading and valorization is another area in which catalysis will be a key player. The decrease in ethanol production cost and the need to realize a transition to a society based more on renewables are two driving forces to develop new catalytic processes for bioethanol conversion. However, without improvements in the efficiency and selectivity of the various processes for ethanol, and in general biomass conversion, which are possible only by the introduction of better and/or new catalysts, this transition to a bio-based economy will probably not be possible. Research on catalysis will thus be the enabling factor for this change towards a more sustainable society. 

In addition to the chapters discussing the various aspects of bio-energy, two chapters are dedicated to hydrogen production and fuel cells. A second book in this series, based on a second workshop, Catalysis for Sustainable Energy Production (organized by IDECAT - the European Network of Excellence on catalysis, see Preface), will discuss these aspects in more detail. 

The immobilisation of homogeneous catalysts is an intensely investigated research area in academia and industry aimed at finding novel and sustainable solutions to the most fundamental problem of the art of homogeneous catalysis the simple separation of products and catalyst and direct catalyst reuse with a minimum of additional—or even better—no further working... 

We showed that the application of PEG/CO2 biphasic catalysis is also possible in aerobic oxidations of alcohols [15]. With regard to environmental aspects it is important to develop sustainable catalytic technologies for oxidations with molecular oxygen in fine chemicals synthesis, as conventional reactions often generate large amoimts of heavy metal and solvent waste. In the biphasic system, palladium nanoparticles can be used as catalysts for oxidation reactions because the PEG phase both stabilises the catalyst particles and enables product extraction with SCCO2. 

The contribution from Catalysis to the economics is remarkable. Based on estimates from the North American Chemical Society between 15 and 20%f the world gross net product are provided by catalytic processes [5]. Thereby the catalysis costs are much less than the sales revenues from the products, which they help to create, making catalysis a key technology to the sustainable and cost effective production of chemicals. Numerous things of our daily life like gasoline, plastics, cars, computers or drugs would not exist at all or at least not be available in the today s quality without catalysis. At BASF for example over 80%f the 8000 products see at least once a catalyst during their production cycle. 

Catalysis for Sustainable Ener Production. Edited by P. Barbaro and C. Bianchini Copyright 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH Co. KGaA, Weinheim ISBN 978-3-527-32095-0... 

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