Cleaner production global applicability

Catalysis refers to the phenomenon by which the rate of a chemical reaction is accelerated by a snbstance (the catalyst) not appreciably consnmed in the process. The term catalysis was coined by Berzelins in 1835 and scientifically defined by Ostwald in 1895, but applications based on catalysis can be traced back to thousands of years ago with the discovery of fermentation to produce wine and beer. Nowadays, catalysts are used in 80% of all chemical industrial processes, and create annual global sales of about 1500 billion dollars and contribute directly or indirectly to approximately 35% of the world s GDP. Catalysis is central to a myriad of applications, including the manufacture of commodity, fine, specialty, petro-, and agro- chemicals as well as the production of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foods, and polymers. Catalysis is also an important component in new processes for the generation of clean energy, and in the protection of the enviromnent both by abating environmental pollutants and by providing alternative cleaner chemical synthetic procedures. 

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