Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
transformed CO
2
by weight and could be used as coatings for building materials or
foam insulation (Fister Gale
2008
; McKeough
2009
). The catalyst that is needed
for the process works at ambient temperature and low pressure (150psi), and the
process is therefore less energy intensive and expensive than conventional bio-
plastics production (Greenemeier
2007
). The use of CO
2
and carbon monoxide
(CO) as feedstocks, rather than corn or starch as in bioplastics, means the carbon-
based plastic does not compete with food production, and both captures and stores
carbon, while reducing demand on oil reserves (if the result is less production of
conventional oil based plastics). Ongoing research suggests that the stored carbon
in the carbon-based plastic is released upon decomposition, although depending on
the exact nature of the feedstock and catalyst, the biodegradability of the carbon-
based polymers can be varied to enable longer term carbon storage (Patel-Predd
2007
; Gerngross and Slater
2003
). In recent advances within Novomer, acrylic acid,
acrylate esters, butanediol and succinic anhydride have been synthesised cost
competitively from bio-based feedstocks using existing technology. These mate-
rials can be combined with Novomer's catalyst to make materials and chemicals
with a potentially negative carbon footprint, with the suggestion that such a process
could lead to plastics which sequester CO
2
over the product lifecycle, while being
30 % cheaper than conventional plastics to manufacture (Novomer
2010
). The first
large manufacturing run of Novomer polypropylene carbonate (PPC) polyol was
completed in 2013 through Albemarle at their Orangeburg, S.C. factory to enable
large-scale commercial testing. Novomer chemicals may also be useful in the
production of paint, coatings, textiles and nappies with an estimated increased
energy productivity of chemical manufacturing by 30-70 %, reduced CO
2
footprint
of 40-110 % depending on the target chemical, energy savings of 20 trillion BTUs
per year within 10 years with complete sequestration of waste gases (Novomer
2013
).
An issue with this approach to addressing climate change impacts is that
sequestering carbon does not examine or solve the problem of excessive burning of
fossil fuels. Nor does it take into account the depletion of oil reserves. Rather,
sequestration is another interim step in the development of a more sustainable
human society and economy, possibly creating time to develop technology which
does not just pollute less, but instead does not pollute at all. There are several
additional logistical, economic, technological and environmental problems with
current attempts at carbon sequestration (Schiermeier
2006
). Technologies that
allow polluting practices to continue for longer, even if at decreased rates, may
distract people from the necessary task of reorganising human industry, and with it
consumption at a fundamental level, and may instead perpetuate a 'business as
usual' paradigm. This could make the eventual highly probable collapse of such
systems more difficult for people. It is likely that transitions to non-polluting and
non-fossil fuel-based ways of making energy and products, including buildings,
would be easier and less disruptive ecologically and economically if done before
there was no other option due to ecosystem collapse or the end of cheap fossil
fuels. If such a scenario is allowed to occur, it is possible that the impacts would be
so great that transition may not be possible (Turner
2008
). The benefit of using
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