 |
| Main Menu | News By Date | News By Supplier | News By Category | About Us |
|
GREEN CHEMISTRY INITIATIVES BEARING FRUIT
Green chemistry is "the invention, design and application of chemical products and processes to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances." The GCI is a nonprofit organization comprising academic, private and government institutions that promotes and fosters green chemistry through information dissemination, conferences and symposia, and chemical research and education. Los Alamos manages the GCI for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Los Alamos has been involved in green chemistry efforts for several years, and already has made inroads in the nuclear, dry cleaning, food, communications, automobile and other industries. Los Alamos has current partnerships with Motorola, the Big Three automakers (under DOE's Partnership for the Next Generation of Vehicles Program) and many other private and public entities in green chemistry projects. Most recently, Los Alamos and Motorola announced a research partnership to develop a fuel cell for cellular phones that lasts the lifetime of the phone and runs on methanol. "The GCI's recent thrusts complement the initiatives already in place," explained Hjeresen. Current green chemistry initiatives include research fellowships, electronic mail distribution networks that link more than 300 researchers and private companies, and Web sites that promote information sharing and collaboration. One GCI initiative Hjeresen will discuss at the conference is a recently concluded series of five educational conferences involving industry, government agencies and the research community. "The conferences culminated in a roadmap that DOE used to strategically direct $12.1 million for new research in support of its Technology Vision 20/20 Program," said Hjeresen. Another initiative involves sponsoring up to 40 young scientists from developing countries to attend a two-week training course in green chemistry curricula and practices. The overall objective, said Hjeresen, is to develop a cross-cultural network of scientists and educators to further disseminate green chemistry principles. Still another initiative involves the establishment of several international chapters to further disseminate educational resources in green chemistry. "The GCI currently has chapters in Australia, Italy, South Africa, Italy, Estonia, Spain and Taiwan," said Hjeresen. The United Kingdom, China and New Zealand may open GCI chapters this year, he added. "We're building a community among industry, academia and government that incorporates green chemistry practices not only into existing programs, but future ones as well," Hjeresen said.
|
| ©2008 New Materials International |