I attended a recent green chemistry conference and came off with a couple of ideas:

1. Nature provides us all the polymers we will ever need (tied up as lignin, cellulose etc.). To make biopolymers, typical processes involve breaking these complex molecules down to simpler molecules and re-polymerizing these simpler molecules to get the desired product. (The NatureWorks™ polylactic acid production from corn is a good example). Can we do better than this?

2. I do not comment on whether coal is good or bad, but it does play some role in our energy future. One envisaged application is coal-to-liquids. In this process, the complex organic molecules are again converted to syngas (CO + H2). Using the Fischer-Tropsch reactions, fuels/chemicals can be produced from syngas. Needless to say, this process is not very atom-efficient.

Some reflections on the application of some of the 12 principles of green chemistry towards developing clean energy technologies:
We see the same issue of atom-efficiency in a wide variety of reactions related to energy conversion. Can we use “green chemical” principles to do things in a better fashion? (This is more of an open-ended question. Feel free to have your say in the comments below).

Developing clean energy technologies: Role for green chemistry?