Green Chemistry
Green Chemistry
As we move deeper into the second decade of the 21st century,
it is more than sobering to consider that half the people who
have ever been born are alive today;
that the population of the world is four times what it was only a hundred years
ago; that 600 million cars are now on the roads of our planet; that it is only just
over a century since the first flight-lasting twelve seconds-was achieved, and
that every day almost 100,000 flights now happen in our world; that the nuclear
age is still in comparative infancy; and that leading scientific commentators of
our age believe that 50% of the products we will need to sustain quality of life
in the next fifteen years are yet to be invented. Yes, we unquestionably live in
interesting times.
We have depended moreover-and increasingly depend-upon new chemistry,
smarter chemistry and the pursuits of the imagination and the intellect. Queen's
is at the heart of this pursuit-a common pursuit for a sustainable world.
Big Questions & New Imperatives
The big issues just get bigger…How will we feed, house, transport, keep warm
and healthy a global population estimated to grow to more than 9 billion within
the next forty years? Crucially, how can we address these challenges sensitively
and sustainably, with chemical production, processes and products that do
not further pollute, solving one problem while adding to another? There can
be no more environmental compromises, no more generating of hazardous
substances as a by-product of the manufacturing process. The new chemistry
must be 'green chemistry'.
The Institute for a Sustainable World
Green Chemistry at Queen's - Opportunity, Responsibility & Fitness for Purpose
Queen's already enjoys an enviable reputation on the European stage for green
hemistry. The School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Queen's
is unique. It is the only such combined school in the UK with a dynamic
balance between scientists and engineers and between theoreticians and
experimentalists. Through the Institute for a Sustainable World the School can
also draw on Queen's strengths in science, engineering, law, governance and
the social sciences. This provides a focus for interdisciplinary research and a
catalyst for the development of sustainable technologies.
The School is in the vanguard of pioneering work in the specialist areas of
catalysis and ionic liquids. The international petroleum giant Petronas, the
Malaysian based Fortune 500 company, has funded its first research based
laboratory in Europe at Queen's. Other illustrious industrial partners include
Shell, Merck and Proctor & amble. This is a roll call of international stature,
reflecting a huge vote of confidence in the intellectual capital within the
university and the achievement to date.
But there is a bigger agenda and potentially a bigger prize-and it can come
through a closer and more effective integration of the disciplines of chemistry
and chemical engineering.
Believe and Achieve-Setting the Agenda
But how can we become truly fit for purpose?
To build upon an established achievement and achieve world leading stature and
this is an agenda which can be seized-Queen's must move quickly
and with appropriate resource. The Institute for a Sustainable World will
require almost £14million in funding to progress its vision over the next five
years-effectively a doubling of Professorial capacity in green chemistry and
chemical engineering.
The Promise & The Prize
There is an identified opportunity for three new Professorial Chairs at Queen's
(at an individual cost of £3.5million) in the spheres of Industrial Chemistry,
Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. Each chair will require the
further support of dedicated research teams, with an anticipated £3million
investment consideration for capital and equipment.
Obviously, the considerable scale of such a funding requirement is fully
recognised, particularly at a moment of such global economic challenge. But
in the bigger context of the potential outcomes of this work and ambition,
the investment is surely proportionate.
The 'cleantech' industries, currently valued at $550billion, will grow as
the demand for new products and services further push the boundaries
of benign chemistry and chemical engineering. The potential impact upon
global agrochemical, biochemical and pharmaceutical endeavour is literally
unfathomable; the future for electronics, energy production, our capacity to
share in a sustainable future are all reliant upon the success of such enterprise.
This is a noble journey, a journey of discovery, an exciting journey exploring
the certainty of chance!
Queen's has always been a seed-bed for the fostering and nurturing of thought
leadership. As the University strives toward a Top 100 position of the world's
premier universities, it must continue to attract the best practitioners in their
respective academic fields, further creating value and positive outcomes for
a civilised human condition. Can you help in making possible this securing of
our future?
For more information, please contact:
Norma Sinte, Development and Alumni Relations Office
Queen's University Belfast
BT7 1NN, Tel +44(0)2890973114
email: n.sinte@qub.ac.uk
