Abstract
This paper describes the state of the art and future opportunities for process design and sustainable development. In the Introduction, the main global megatrends and the European Union’s response to two of them, the European Green Deal, are presented. The organization of professionals in the field, their conferences, and their publications support the two topics. A brief analysis of the published documents in the two most popular databases shows that the environmental dimension predominates, followed by the economic one, while the social pillar of sustainable development is undervalued. The main design tools for sustainability are described. As an important practical case, the European chemical and process industries are analyzed, and their achievements in sustainable development are highlighted; in particular, their strategies are presented in more detail. The conclusions cover the most urgent future development areas of (i) process industries and carbon capture with utilization or storage; (ii) process analysis, simulation, synthesis, and optimization tools, and (iii) zero waste, circular economy, and resource efficiency. While these developments are essential, more profound changes will be needed in the coming decades, such as shifting away from growth with changes in habits, lifestyles, and business models. Lifelong education for sustainable development will play a very important role in the growth of democracy and happiness instead of consumerism and neoliberalism.
Highlights
In the Introduction, some basic information about process design and sustainable development will be presented, separately for both of them as well as together as process design for the sustainable development era
Process systems will be characterized as circular economy units; they will have to be maintained for longer operation, reused or refurbished for similar future processes, or have its parts and equipment recycled for another process or purpose
The above results show that the most urgent future development areas of the process industry are climate change with greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and ecosystems, energy with renewable sources and efficiency, raw materials and other resources, water resources and recycling, zero waste and circular economy and resource efficiency, supply chain integration, process design and optimization, process integration and intensification, industrial ecology and life cycle thinking, industrial–urban symbiosis, product design for circularity, digitalization, sustainable transport, green jobs, health and safety, hazardous materials and waste, customer satisfaction, education, and lifelong learning
Summary
In the Introduction, some basic information about process design and sustainable development will be presented, separately for both of them as well as together as process design for the sustainable development era. Megatrends are large, social, economic, political, environmental, or technological changes that are slow to form, but once in place can influence a wide range of activities, processes, and perceptions, possibly for decades. They are the underlying forces that drive change in global markets, and our everyday lives [1].”. Processes 2021, 9, 148 production are the two largest energy consumers in industry, which are responsible for 19 % and 18 % of final energy use in the sector in 2019 They are followed by cement, at 14 %, and aluminium processes, at 6 %. Prices of renewable wind and solar energy are forecast to fall by about 50 % [6]
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