“Green chemicals” from renewable raw materials designed to biodegrade more readily to non-toxic products, can reduce human health risks and environmental effects. Such benefits may be an important incentive for the development and introduction of green chemicals and justify somewhat higher costs for green chemicals than for petroleum-derived chemicals. Thus, it is important to evaluate the size and the value to the society of the environmental benefits as a complement to strictly business-oriented cost calculations. The assessment of green chemicals from a life cycle perspective includes estimating their environmental benefits, compared with petroleum-derived chemicals produced by conventional processes, as well as identifying potential risks at specific steps in their life cycle. Results from environmental systems analyses will be an important input for prioritising the most promising green chemicals and production routes from an environmental point of view.

The main objective of this project is to make systems-oriented techno-economic and environmental assessments of the processes and products that are studied under the Greenchem programme. Implementation strategies and policy implications will also be explored. Close collaboration with project and industrial partners is necessary throughout various stages in this project. The environmental analysis will be done with a broader view aimed at exploring implementation strategies. This includes mapping relevant parts of the industry with respect to actors, structures (for example, markets, institutions, and regulations), and driving forces. A better understanding of the barriers and incentives for change is important basis for developing efficient implementation strategies for green chemicals. The mapping of industry, the characterisation of relevant technologies and processes in biotechnology including the environmental assessment, and the understanding of innovation systems will produce results that facilitate better informed decisions in government and industry. Deliverables include:

• Life cycle assessments of amides and epoxides including a comparison with existing petroleum-based produced with conventional processes
• Environmental assessment of different agricultural feedstock crops for various green chemicals
• Evaluation and operationalization of the 12 principles of green chemistry including recommendations and suggestions of practicable tools for the industry
• Characterisation of relevant parts of the chemical industry with respect to current structures, actors and driving forces
• Description of potential implementation strategies for green chemicals and associated governmental policy

Project leaders: Pål Börjesson and Lars J. Nilsson
Ph.D. student: Linda Gustafsson
Senior researcher: Gunnar Modig