Green Chemistry : Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Green chemistry has now been around for two decades, and it has been making a real difference in our world. The well-known companies and organizations that have embraced the discipline include Nike, BASF, Hewlett-Packard, the National Aeronautics & Space Administration, Eastman Chemical, United Soybean Board, Pfizer, the Environmental Protection Agency, Bayer Material Science, Codexis, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, DuPont, and World Wildlife Fund. The global market for green chemistry is predicted to grow exponentially in the coming years, to $98.5 billion by 2020. The young discipline has produced thousands of scientific papers. Research networks in more than 30 countries on every settled continent have been formed along with at least four new international scientific journals. Green chemistry has been credited for decreasing the amount of chemical waste released to the air, water, and land. It has also spawned new areas of research including green solvents, bio-based transformations and materials, alternative energy science, molecular self-assembly, next-generation catalyst design, and molecular design for reduced hazard. Some industry reports predict green chemistry as the future of all chemistry