Humans have come to the era of green chemistry

"Father of Green Chemistry," Assistant Secretary of the US Environmental Protection Agency Paul Anastas


Green chemistry makes our planet a better future!
- Paul Anastas

On the evening of August 17, the US Vice President Biden arrived in Beijing and began an official visit to China. It is understood that in Biden’s 6-day visit, strengthening cooperation between China and the United States in environmental protection and new energy is one of the important contents. Paul Anastas, assistant secretary of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, who has the honor of “Father of Green Chemistry” in the United States, talked about his concept of green chemistry many times during his visit to China earlier this month. In this regard, we recommend to the reader a speech by this American environmentalist during his visit to China. The concept conveyed by the "father of green chemistry" is not without benefit to the development of China's chemical industry.


The pollution treatment costs of the chemical industry have exceeded the processing fees in 1991. Green Chemistry was proposed by the American Chemical Society (ACS) and became the central slogan of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Green chemistry is not only a discipline or an industrial unit, but a new way of thinking. It is a redesign of the products and production processes of daily life. At its core is the use of chemical principles to reduce and eliminate the environmental pollution of industrial production from the source and to convert all atoms of the reactants into the desired final product.

In the late 1990s, I and my colleague John Warner proposed 12 basic principles of green chemistry and committed to promoting green chemical production. These principles have now become the consensus of the world chemical industry. At present, the research network of green chemistry has spread over more than 30 countries around the world. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency's survey, green chemical products and processing have reduced the annual production of hazardous waste to 3 billion pounds, saving 40 billion gallons of water annually, and saving 22 billion kilowatts of energy annually.

The foundations of society and economy are chemical substances. Chemistry affects every thing that makes our society and economy visible, tangible and sensible. Green Chemistry emphasizes that on the basis of traditional chemistry, it must consider the absolute reduction of the production of toxic substances and wastes, and realize environmental friendliness in all processes such as the acquisition, production, storage, and circulation of materials. It can be said that green chemistry and green engineering are sustainable solutions that fundamentally solve environmental problems.

Most processes in the chemical industry were developed many years ago. The processing costs at the time mainly included raw materials, energy consumption and labor costs. In recent years, due to the chemical industry's release of a large amount of toxic and harmful substances into the atmosphere, water, and soil, processing costs have undergone great changes. In 1992, the second year that I proposed the concept of green chemistry, the cost of the US chemical industry for environmental protection was US$115 billion, while the cost of cleaning up contaminated areas was as high as US$700 billion.

A large number of pollution problems associated with chemical manufacturing originate not only from raw materials and products, but also from substances used in its manufacturing process. The most common are solvents used in reaction media, separations, and formulations. Currently widely used solvents are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), some of which can cause the formation of ozone during use, and some can cause water pollution. Therefore, the use of non-toxic and harmless solvents instead of VOCs has become an important research area for green chemistry.

In the study of non-toxic and harmless solvents, the most active research project is the development of supercritical fluid (SCF), especially supercritical carbon dioxide as solvent. Supercritical carbon dioxide is a carbon dioxide fluid whose temperature and pressure are both above its critical point. It usually has a liquid density and thus has the solubility of a conventional liquid solvent. Under the same conditions, it has the viscosity of gas, and thus it has a very high mass transfer rate. The biggest advantages of supercritical carbon dioxide are non-toxic, non-flammable, and inexpensive. This kind of material is very versatile, such as dry-cleaning clothing, making plastics, and even removing coffee and other ***. Moreover, this technology does not release carbon dioxide, but instead fixes and utilizes carbon dioxide, which is also particularly needed in the context of climate change.

We have been consuming resources, generating waste, and investing heavily in cleaning the environment. However, we must look ahead and let the problems that have arisen in the past disappear in the future. This is what we are pleased about with Green Chemistry. It allows us to exert creativity, eliminate pollution from the source, and not let mistakes make a mistake.

Chinese scientists are also studying green chemistry. The picture shows the Bayer company's relevant experts visited a green chemistry research center in China. (For CFP)

Green chemistry is not only feasible, but also profitable. At present, green chemistry is not only in the United States, but also in the world. This is because the most special aspect of green chemistry is that it can make environmental protection and economic benefits go hand in hand to achieve environmental protection and optimize economic development.

In 1990, the United States promulgated the Pollution Prevention Act, establishing pollution prevention as a national policy of the United States. In 1995, Vice President Gore of the United States announced the national environmental technology strategy. Its goal is to reduce waste by 40% to 50% on Earth Day 2020 and to reduce raw material consumption by 20% to 25% per unit. In the same year, U.S. President Bill Clinton announced the "Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Plan," and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency established the "Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award," which is the only presidential award in the field of chemical engineering.

This award can bring good reputation to the company and university professors and encourage them to make more contributions in the field of green chemistry. Up to now, nearly 80 people have won this award. Other countries, such as Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy, have also established similar awards. These government actions have greatly promoted the vigorous development of green chemistry. Many companies are willing to promote green chemistry because this technology can make them profitable. Therefore, people spontaneously accepted the concept of green chemistry, and promotion is not difficult.

In fact, every industrial sector is trying to achieve environmental and economic goals through green chemistry. Energy, agriculture, plastics, electronics, and medicine are the main areas where the concept of green chemistry is adopted. These achievements are exciting, but these achievements only show a small part of the potential of green chemistry, and the future success is far more than that.

Now, we have done a lot of research in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry and related engineering. These studies are still being carried out in China and the United States. The outstanding scientists in the field of green chemistry research in China have set an example to other research institutions, and the use of green chemistry is likely to achieve a win-win situation. Whether in China, the United States, or other countries, what we want to do is for all companies and scientists to do so. The concept is the most important. How to allow people to naturally accept this concept, how to make people more and more fully understand the green chemistry, the popularization of ideas is the key to promoting practice.

In order to popularize the concept, the United States attaches importance to education, and has set up professional courses at many universities and can grant doctoral degrees. The United States also established a special journal, Green Chemistry, to promote technological innovation. In addition, the US Environmental Protection Agency also promptly displayed the results of green chemistry to the public, so that scientific research achievements and practical achievements have been recognized by the public, so that the public is aware that green chemistry is "not only feasible but also profitable."


Green cooperation is an important part of the relationship between the two countries. For 20 years, green chemistry has always been the central slogan of the US Environmental Protection Agency. Over the years, our work has been focused on dozens of fields, and recently we have restructured all areas to sum up into four areas, namely, chemical safety and sustainability, atmosphere, climate and energy, and sustainability. Water resources, safe, healthy communities. The purpose of this adjustment is that we are trying to study environmental issues from a systems perspective. Many problems are not isolated, especially environmental issues. To study the issues in isolation and one by one, without systematic ideas, is not conducive to solving environmental problems.

For the atmosphere, we must not only understand what substances exist in the atmosphere, but more importantly, understand the relevance of these substances and human health. This requires the use of the latest technology. This is also the direction that the R&D department has been working hard for. For example, we have been focusing on how to reduce the level of mercury in the atmosphere and are also concerned about how to mitigate climate change. To do these tasks, we always emphasize the research and innovation of science and technology. This is the focus of our work.

In the United States, the formulation of all environmental policies (laws, regulations, standards, etc.) is based on scientific research, with particular attention to the management of risks to human health. Science is an important and central foundation in the entire environmental decision-making process. Once science becomes legislation, it can be transformed into a binding tool. Green chemistry is a major science and technology. However, technological innovation is a continuous process, different countries and different countries in the same period.

Interestingly, Sino-US scientific and technological exchanges that began in the early 1970s were one of the earliest areas for the restoration of Sino-U.S. relations, and they have always been an important part of the relations between the two countries. In January 1979, when Mr. Deng Xiaoping led a delegation to visit the United States, he signed the "Sino-American Cooperation Agreement on Science and Technology" in Washington on January 31st, and at the same time established the "Government of China-US Science and Technology Cooperation" between the Ministers of the two countries that implement the agreement. Committee".

The purpose of my current visit to China is not only to review the history of our cooperation, but also to dialogue with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, and actively explore the future areas of cooperation. I believe that the future cooperation between China and the United States in the field of science and technology will be closer and the issues will be more extensive. At present, we are conducting some technical cooperation with China's environmental scientific research institutions, such as remote sensing technology. In addition, what we are excited about is cooperation in the development of sustainable technologies. Although specific technologies cannot be determined at present, the cooperation between China and the United States will also be a continuous dialogue process. (Cao Jun Guo Yan finishing)

In September last year, the China-U.S. Symposium on Chemical Environmental Management was held in Beijing. The two sides made progress in chemical environmental cooperation. (For CFP)

Brief introduction Paul Anastas (Paul Anastas), former director of the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute, Clinton and Bush Administration of the White House Bureau of Science and Technology Policy Assistant Director of Environmental Policy, Yale University Green Chemistry and Green Engineering Center Director, He has a high academic status in the field of environmental science and is well known as the "father of green chemistry." "Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice" written by Anastas has become a classic in the field of green chemistry. In May 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Anastas as the Assistant Director responsible for research and development of the US Environmental Protection Agency.