Using Renewable Resources

In addition to these substantial differences, several barriers currently impede the market entry of renewable resources Predominantly today s chemical industry is orientated towards fossil raw materials and thus the existing processes are incompatible with the new resources. Currently, the use of renewable resources leads to disadvantages in price compared with crude oil. Further, the qualitative and quantitative availability of the natural products hampers a major breakthrough. The supply and the composition of the renewables often change with year and location. Additionally, some renewable resources with special properties, such as palm oil, cannot be cultivated everywhere because of unfavorable climatic conditions and must therefore be imported via long routes. Furthermore, the increasing competition between using crops for food and feed on the one hand and for biofuels on the other hand causes ethical problems. 

Nevertheless, renewable resources may provide promising chances in the future. Taking the whole process chain into consideration, renewables can make substantial contributions to climate protection. The products can be made and used locally. A wide product platform can be offered and the natural product origin leads to a positive image. Particularly bio-based products usually show high biodegradability and biocompatibility. For selected resources, the synthetic pathway in plants is superior to chemical synthesis. 

However, extensive efforts in biotechnology, chemistry, and chemical engineering will be essential to meet the challenges of renewable resources. An outstanding tool for the selective conversion and improvement of renewables will be the high potential of catalysis. For the utilization of renewable resources, three approaches can be distinguished  

In the following sections, the renewable resources are presented as alternative feedstocks for chemical syntheses, giving a short overview of newer and already established routes. It is not intended to give an extensive review, but rather to exemplify that catalysis is a versatile tool to convert alternative feedstocks directly into valuable products. References to detailed review articles are given as appropriate. Lately, some surveys focusing on catalysis and renewable resources were published by Gallezot [2, 3] and van Bekkum [4]. 

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This challenge has two different facets. One is the discovery and development of methods to use renewable resources to supply suitable energy carriers, in sufficient quantities at acceptable costs, and with minimal impact... 

The global impact of industrial biotechnology on the chemical industry is currently relatively low. About five percent of all chemicals today are produced by industrial biotechnology. Riese and Bachmann estimate that ten percent of all chemicals sold by the year 2010 will be biotech-derived using renewable resources. The impact will be greatest in the fine chemical sector, with an estimated 60 percent share of white biotech products. 

Many natural fibers are finding uses in automobiles, trucks, and railway cars. One of the reasons for this is the concern for the environment and the need to use renewable resources. Natural fibers are a renewable resource and they do not exacerbate the CO2 emission problem. Not only are natural fibers environmentally friendly, they possess reasonably good mechanical properties, such as impact resistance, at a very low weight. Examples of applications of natural fibers include, among others, the Mercedes-Benz E-class automobile. More... 

As a reaction with 100% atom efficiency achieved at moderate temperature (<100°C) using renewable resources, metathesis has potential in a sustainable... 

And finally Do not confuse approaches or strategies with targets. This avoids misconceptions such as those listed exemplarily above. Use renewable resources or recycling of the product is only an approach, but does not guarantee an actual improvement - often to the contrary Only the product-specific assessment of the alternatives gives reliable guidance. Such a reliable assessment always requires the consideration of ALL the above-named niles. 

TNS principle 1 applies to Stage 11 in Table 16.2 and suggests that using renewable resources as the feedstocks (e.g., fuel derived from the fermentation of com, gasahol) shifts the raw material from nomenewable to a renewable resource. TNS principles 1, 2, and 4 are satisfied if the hydrocarbon raw materials are obtained from fermentation instead of from fossil fuels. TNS principles 1 and 4 suggest that aluminum be used instead of copper in electrical apptications. TNS principle 4 suggests the use of electric motors instead of internal combustion engines. 

There are various substitutes available for the conventional petroleum-based plastics, which are manufactured using renewable resources and are capable of biodegrading in some feed duration. Some of the most used substitutes can be listed as follows (Patni et al., 2012) ... 

A strategy to use renewable resource for PANl nanofibers was developed from a raw material, cardanol, which is an industrial waste and pollutant from the cashew nut industry. A new amphiphilic molecule, 4-[4-hydroxy-2-((Z)-pentadec-8-enyl) phenylazo] ben-zenesulfonic acid, was studied for cardanol and employed as a dopant to produce PANl nanomaterials with a variety of morphologies including microspheres and nanotubes besides linear and dendritic nanofibers (Anilkumar and Jayakannan, 2007). For the PANl nanofibers, they displayed 5 pm in length and 200 run in diameter (Fig. 3.3B). 

In conclusion, it has been determined that long-standing developments while retaining the ambitious goal of using renewable resources with a share of a minimum of 80% do not necessarily have to lead to differences in the material. First products have already come out on the market and additional ones will follow. In order to be able to service diverse industrial areas with this new material, further research activities must be carried out in the area of manufacturing technology and in the optimisation of the components. It is expected that in the near future the market acceptance will considerably increase due to the introduction of the first biocomposite products and that new markets will be opened up. 

Power and utilities generation Generate supplemental power or energy using renewable resources Photovoltaic Solar Thermal Wind power. Low-head hydro... 

Biodegradable pol5miers can be synthesized using renewable resources by conventional methods (13). For example, yttrium complexes are suitable compounds for the S5mthesis of poly(lactide)s. 

Use of these solvents and systems benefits both human health and the environment by lowering exposure to hazardous materials, reducing explosion potential, reducing emissions, and, in the case of the terpene and methyl ester-based solvents, using renewable resources. These solvents and the reclamation equipment represent major innovations in the safety of handling, exposure, and recovery. The reduced explosion potential, reduced emissions, decreased worker exposure, and reduced transport and maintenance costs translate into decreased cost and improved safety in all aspects of flexographic printing processes. 

One of the stimulants to the use of biobased feedstock in chemical manufacture is the increasing price of oil. The attractiveness of using renewable resources as the basis of the production of essential chemicals should also not be underrated. 

The PEM fuel cells utilize environmentally friendly fuel—oxygen and hydrogen that can be produced via electrolysis of water. Electrolysis of water when using renewable resources (i.e., solar or wind) provides a clean source of fuel that is then reverted to the water by the fuel cell. Currently however, the majority of the world s hydrogen is generated from hydrocarbon fuels since the economics are more favorable than electrolysis of water. The current high cost of electrolysis is related to the raw material cost of cell hardware and the limited volume of cell hardware within the market. If widely adopted, low pressure electrolysis can be reasonably cheap, if auxiliary systems are utilized for gas cleanup (humidity removal) and gas compression. 

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