Green Chemistry: Biobased Chemicals, Renewable Feedstocks, Green Polymers, Less-toxic Alternative Chemical Formulations, and the Foundations of a Sustainable Chemical Industry

摘要

Green chemistry is the utilization of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture, and application of chemical products. Green chemistry encompasses a broad area of endeavor. It is not covered by a narrow definition and does not offer a "silver bullet" type solution because it is essentially a reaction to a complex variety of issues. Ranging from dangerous and wasteful production processes and a heavy reliance on increasingly expensive petroleum to the persistence in the environment of toxic substances with far-reaching (and increasingly well-understood) effects on human and animal health, these problems call for equally diverse solutions. Green chemistry is the expansive discipline that is evolving in response to this wide array of challenges.