Sustainable Development and Renewable Feedstocks for Chemical Industry

Abstract

The principles of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in August 2002 in Johannesburg, and Agenda 21,the comprehensive plan of action for the 21 t h century, adopted 12 years ago by more than 170 governments, address the pressing problems of today and also aim at preparing the world for the challenges of this century. The conservation and management of resources for development are the main focus of interest, to which the sciences will have to make a considerable contribution. The encouragement of environmentally sound and sustainable use of renewable natural resources is one aim of Agenda 21. In this contribution we investigate innovations in chemistry for such a development focusing exemplarily on chemical uses of fats and oils as renewable feedstocks. Since base chemicals are produced in large quantities and important product lines are synthesized from them, their resource-saving production is especially important for a sustainable development. New processes based on renewable feedstocks are significant here. Most products obtainable from renewable raw materials may at present not be able to compete with the products of the petrochemical industry, but this will change as oil becomes scarcer and oil prices rise. In the long run, renewable resources could replace fossil raw materials. The competition of the cultivation of food and of feedstocks for industrial use can be met by a global program of reforestation of areas wasted in historical time by human activities.