Green Chemistry Assignment May 3-4

An emerging field is the area of green chemistry, developing methods to use chemical products and processes that are sustainable, without waste or limiting polluting the environment. In context of the recent oil spill, how would you suggest or consider the "clean up"? What products would you use and why? Think of the habitats, both aquatic and terrestrial that are affected. As you read the articles, I will provide you with some tools to address this concern.

Green Chemistry: What Is It All About?


The assignment for today is for you to look up information regarding “Green Chemistry”. I have provided some websites to get you started. The first one is a link to the EPA web site where you can get information regarding the concept of green chemistry and what the EPA is doing in that area.
http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/

This second URL is to the American Chemical Society’s web site on green chemistry.

http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_TRANSITIONMAIN&node_id=830&use_sec=false&sec_url_var=region1

These last two URLs are to two specific companies that have won the prestigious Green Chemistry Award. I have personally heard the founders of both of these companies give talks regarding their processes.

http://www.pyrocool.org
http://www.micell.com/

Directions: Find the answers to the questions you are assigned. Save the assignment as Green-your group number and class period.

Email however much you have finished at the end of the period on today BEFORE you leave class to me at myscienceclass@yahoo.com. You will present the information you have found to the rest of the class as a PowerPoint presentation on Friday/Monday. You will have about an hour that day to finish up and polish your presentation.

1. What is meant by the concept of “Green Chemistry”?

2. What is the mission of the program? What are the goals of this program?

3. What are the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry? Come up with an additional principle to add to the list.

4. What is the EPA’s Design for the Environment Program?

5. What is the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Award? Who was Kenneth G. Hancock? See if you can find out who won the award for 2007 and what he/she did to merit the award?

6. What are the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards? Who are the winners for 2008 and 2009 and what did each one do that merited it being awarded one of the awards? One of the winners in 2005 was a company named Novozymes, which has a plant in Salem, who won one of the awards along with Archer Daniels Midland Company. What did they do that was worthy of an award?

7. Dr. Larry Taylor, Professor of Chemistry at VA Tech, was nominated for an Academic Green Chemistry Award in 1997. What was the title of his entry and why is it important?

8. Companies, large and small, as well as universities are involved in the Green Chemistry movement. Select 5 of the following companies and find out what each is doing in the area of Green Chemistry and the environment. Describe what these companies are doing to lessen the impact of their products on the environment.
 Dow Chemical Company http://www.dow.com/Homepage/index.html

 DuPont http://www2.dupont.com/DuPont_Home/en_US/index.html DuPont has several plants in Virginia. See if you can find out about the Waynesboro plant specifically.

 BASF, USA http://www.basf.com/corporate/index.html

 Polaroid Company http://polaroid.com/us/index.jsp?co=us&bmLocale=en_US

 Kodak http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2/8&pq-locale=en_US

 Eastman Chemical http://www.eastman.com/

 Goodrich http://www.goodrich.com/AboutGoodrich

 Dow Corning http://www.dowcorning.com/content/about/default.asp

 Solutia http://www.solutia.com/pages/corporate/

9. Describe the Green Engineering Program and compare it to the Green Chemistry Program. Find out about the Green Engineering Program at Virginia Tech. Get information about three other universities that also have green engineering programs.

10. Find out why Dr. Joseph Desimone won the 1997 Green Chemistry Award. He started a company called Micell Technologies…what does it do? Micell sold off “Hangers Cleaners,” the company it founded based on Dr. Desimone’s work. What is supercritical fluid technology? What is different about this technology and why is it considered so environmentally friendly? How can carbon dioxide be used to clean clothes? Describe the process. Write a biography on Dr. DeSimone using the “Scientists of the Month” template.

11. Find out the same information about Pyrocool Technologies which won the award in 1998. Where are some of the places it has been used?

12. Explain what is meant by “atom economy” and who came up with the idea? Give a minimum of two examples of using atom economy in an industrial process (include the chemical equations for the original production process and the new process.) Compare the cost-effectiveness of the new process compared to the old.

13. What is meant by Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)? What are the steps used in the process? Use a specific example of how LCA is used? Show the whole process.

14. What is a plastic? What properties do “green” plastics need to have to be environmentally friendly? What are the natural biopolymers that are already being produced, and what plastics are being produced from each of these? What are other examples of other natural materials that can be made into polymers that are biodegradable? Specifically, what are each of these materials used to produce? http://www.greenplastics.com/ You might contact Dr. Justin Barone at VT to get first-hand information from him about how he uses biomaterials such as chicken feathers to produce plastics.