Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Shrinking the carbon footprint of a chemical in everyday objects
https://news.mit.edu/2019/synthesizing-epoxides-0409Shrinking the carbon footprint of a chemical in everyday objects
New method for synthesizing the epoxides found in plastics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals could be powered by electricity.
Anne Trafton | MIT News Office
April 9, 2019
The biggest source of global energy consumption is the industrial manufacturing of products such as plastics, iron, and steel. Not only does manufacturing these materials require huge amounts of energy, but many of the reactions also directly emit carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
In an effort to help reduce this energy use and the related emissions, MIT chemical engineers have devised an alternative approach to synthesizing epoxides, a type of chemical that is used to manufacture diverse products, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, and textiles. Their new approach, which uses electricity to run the reaction, can be done at room temperature and atmospheric pressure while eliminating carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
“What isn’t often realized is that industrial energy usage is far greater than transportation or residential usage. This is the elephant in the room, and there has been very little technical progress in terms of being able to reduce industrial energy consumption,” says Karthish Manthiram, an assistant professor chemical engineering and the senior author of the new study.
…
“There are many processes that have enormous carbon dioxide footprints, and decarbonization can be driven by electrification,” Manthiram says. “One can eliminate temperature, eliminate pressure, and use voltage instead.”
…
https://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b02345New method for synthesizing the epoxides found in plastics, textiles, and pharmaceuticals could be powered by electricity.
Anne Trafton | MIT News Office
April 9, 2019
The biggest source of global energy consumption is the industrial manufacturing of products such as plastics, iron, and steel. Not only does manufacturing these materials require huge amounts of energy, but many of the reactions also directly emit carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
In an effort to help reduce this energy use and the related emissions, MIT chemical engineers have devised an alternative approach to synthesizing epoxides, a type of chemical that is used to manufacture diverse products, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, and textiles. Their new approach, which uses electricity to run the reaction, can be done at room temperature and atmospheric pressure while eliminating carbon dioxide as a byproduct.
“What isn’t often realized is that industrial energy usage is far greater than transportation or residential usage. This is the elephant in the room, and there has been very little technical progress in terms of being able to reduce industrial energy consumption,” says Karthish Manthiram, an assistant professor chemical engineering and the senior author of the new study.
…
“There are many processes that have enormous carbon dioxide footprints, and decarbonization can be driven by electrification,” Manthiram says. “One can eliminate temperature, eliminate pressure, and use voltage instead.”
…