Raw Fossil

X 10 Btu/short ton), the solar energy trapped in 17.9 x 10 t of biomass, or about 8 x 10 t of biomass carbon, would be equivalent to the world s fossil fuel consumption in 1990 of 286 x 10 J. It is estimated that 77 x 10 t of carbon, or 171 x 10 t of biomass equivalent, most of it wild and not controlled, is fixed on the earth each year. Biomass should therefore be considered as a raw material for conversion to large suppHes of renewable substitute fossil fuels. Under controlled conditions dedicated biomass crops could be grown specifically for energy appHcations. 

Outlook. Total 1991 U.S. ink consumption was estimated at about 86 x 10 kg valued at over 3.0 biUion. The demand is estimated to grow at an average of about 3—4% per year in volume (26). The principal changes expected in the 1990s will continue to be in response to environmental and safety concerns and government regulations. The bulk of printing inks use raw materials based on fossil fuels, such as coal (qv) and petroleum (qv). 

Vinyl compares favorably to other packaging materials. In 1992, a lifecycle assessment comparison of specific packages made from glass, paperboard, paper, and selected plastics concluded that vinyl was the material that has the lowest production energy and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as the lowest fossil fuel and raw material requirements of the plastics studied (169). Vinyl saves more than 34 million Btu per 1000 pounds manufactured compared to the highest energy-consuming plastic (170). 

Furthermore, it is not tme that other plastics are more environmentally friendly than vinyl. A more recent study compared vinyl to a number of other packaging materials and found that vinyl consumed the least amount of energy, used the lowest level of fossil fuels, consumed the least amount of raw materials, and produced the lowest levels of carbon dioxide of any of the plastics studied (184). In fact, the Norwegian environmental group BeUona has concluded that a generally reduced use of vinyl plastics can lead to a worsening of the environmental situation (185). 

Although chemistry as an emperical fundamental didpline has a long history, its application in industry gained importance after the introduction of the use of fossil energy sources during the industrial revolution. The chemical industry withdraws non-renewable materials, mainly fossil oil, from the earth s reserves to use as an energy source and as fossil oil a source of raw materials for production processes. The products so produced are rather... 

Surface-active compounds, especially the anionic surfactants, are derived from fossil raw materials as well as from recent raw materials. The portion of the biomass on the production of anionic surfactants is about 75% if the soap, the quantitatively most important anionic surfactant, is included. Considering only the synthetic surfactants, the syndets, the portion of fossil raw materials in the production of these surfactants, is about 75%. Without the lignosulfonates (and the petroleum sulfonates) this portion is about 90%. Due to strong efforts... 

TABLE 2 Part of Fossil and Recent Raw Materials in the Production of Anionic Surfactants (Without Soap)... 

Both new catalysts and new processes need to be developed for a complete exploitation of the potential of CO2 use [41]. The key motivation to producing chemicals from CO2 is that CO2 can lead to totally new polymeric materials and also new routes to existing chemical intermediates and products could be more efficient and economical than current methods. As a case in point, the conventional method for methanol production is based on fossil feedstock and the production of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) involves the use of toxic phosgene or CO. A proposed alternative production process involves the use of CO2 as a raw material (Figure 7.1)... 

Chemical processes should be designed as part of a sustainable industrial activity that retains the capacity of ecosystems to support both life and industrial activity into the future. Sustainable industrial activity must meet the needs of the present, without compromising the needs of future generations. For chemical process design, this means that processes should use raw materials as efficiently as is economic and practicable, both to prevent the production of waste that can be environmentally harmful and to preserve the reserves of raw materials as much as possible. Processes should use as little energy as is economic and practicable, both to prevent the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels and to preserve the reserves of fossil fuels. Water must also be consumed in... 

Coprocessing is a technique that has been used in Europe, Japan, and the United States. It consists of transforming waste materials into alternative fuels and/or substitutes for raw materials. This enables reducing consumption of fossil fuels and helps preserve the environment. 

The biorefinery industry is marked with a feedstock related to the dispersed nature of its diet. The incoming raw material to a biorefinery is produced in a small scale (compared to an oil refinery), and in remote, distributed locations. Consequently, the biorefinery capacity is a parameter difficult to define due to the uncertainty in collection and blending of the feedstock. The next question is to what extent will the oil industry be involved in such operations and how will that affect the fossil to renewable ratio or the intake feedstock. 

Also, by the very nature of chemical transformations, there are almost always unused chemicals remaining. These chemical leftovers include contaminants in the raw materials, incompletely converted raw materials, unavoidable coproducts, unselective reaction by-products, spent catalysts, and solvents. There have long been efforts to minimize the production of such waste products, and to recover and reuse those that cannot be eliminated. For those that cannot be reused, some different use has been sought, and as a last resort, efforts have been made to safely dispose of whatever remains. The same efforts apply to any leftovers from the production of the energy from the fuels produced or consumed by the processing industries. Of particular immediate and increasing concern are the potential detrimental effects of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere from fossil fuel combustion, as discussed further in Chapters 9 and 10. 

Approximately 95% of the hydrogen produced today comes from carbonaceous raw material, primarily fossil in origin. Only a fraction of this hydrogen is currently used for energy purposes the bulk serves as a chemical feedstock for petrochemical, food, electronics, and metallurgical processing industries. 

A broader and more detailed evaluation can be done by performing a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). The central idea of a LCA is that the environmental effects during the entire life cycle of a process are quantified. These environmental effects are caused by the use of fossil fuels for heating and production of electricity, the use of non-renewable raw materials for the production of materials and chemicals, and the emissions of pollutants to air, water and soil. These environmental effects can be subdivided further in various levels of detail. The five major effects mentioned are derived from the more general effects considered in the framework of the LCA. Based on the environmental sustainability of each of the complete treatment scenarios considered as technically feasible, a ranking according environmental... 

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