Biochemical Substitution Strategies for Pollution Prevention
Regulatory pressures and growing public dissatisfaction with the adverse environmental impacts associated with producing and using petrochemicals is inspiring businesses to seek more environmentally benign alternatives. As part of a project funded by the Great Lakes Protection Fund and the Joyce Foundation, ILSR is promoting the Carbohydrate Economy concept as a pollution prevention strategy. Carbohydrates, the building blocks of plant matter, can replace hydrocarbons, the building blocks of petroleum, as the basic feedstocks for many of our industries.
There are three types of biochemical substitution approaches promoted by ILSR: direct substitution, indirect substitution, and final product substitution.
Direct Substitution
Direct substitution occurs when a chemically identical biochemical is substituted for a petrochemical. Though this does not reduce pollution in the manufacturing or disposal stages (because the chemical is identical), the pollution generated from raising crops and converting them into chemicals is far less than that generated by extracting and processing oil into petrochemicals.
We can illustrate this by comparing the pollution generated from making phenol from petroleum versus making phenol from plants. Phenol is a chemical compound used heavily in the plastics and textile industries. When bio-phenol is produced, it generates 80 percent less pollution than when phenols are made from petroleum.
Indirect Substitution
Indirect substitution takes place when a functionally similar but not chemically identical biochemical replaces a petrochemical. For instance, citrus fruit derived d-limonene is an excellent substitute for petroleum based solvents like 1,1,1 trichloroethane. The use of d-limonene not only eliminates most of the "upstream" pollution but also eliminates most of the "downstream" pollution, that is the pollution generated in the use and disposal of the chemical.
Product Substitution
Product substitution means replacing a petroleum derived end product with a biological end product. For example, plastics, resins, and related chemicals are by far the largest consumer of chemicals in the process industry. Thermoplastics, a type of plastic that can be heated and reformed, constitutes a 12 million ton market. Much of this type of plastic technically could be replaced with starch-based polymeric materials. This strategy eliminates or greatly reduces the petroleum generated pollution at all stages of production: extraction, intermediate processing, product manufacture and disposal.
Potential Impact in the Great Lakes Region
In general, the maximum pollution reduction can be achieved by product substitution, replacing a petroleum-based product with a bio-product . This eliminates, or greatly reduces, the pollution generated at all phases of production, manufacture and disposal.
The second greatest amount of pollution reduction occurs by indirect substitution, when a biochemical with similar properties replaces a petrochemical. This would reduce the pollution generated in making and using the petrochemicals.
The third best strategy for pollution reduction is direct substitution, which involves substituting a biochemical that is identical to a petrochemical. This would reduce the pollution generated in making the chemical, but not in using the chemical.
Impact of Traditional Pollution Prevention Strategies
A panel of independent scientists assembled by the EPA concluded that the cost of implementing the current toxic reduction initiatives among Great Lakes businesses and municipalities could exceed $16 billion. Yet these initiatives deal with only 10 percent of less of the pollutants that fall in the Great Lakes.
Impact of a Carbohydrate Economy on Pollution Prevention
All three strategies can find widespread application in the Great Lakes. Table 1 presents a life cycle pollution analysis of ten important chemicals used in industry. It concludes that 30 percent of the pollution currently generated by the manufacture of petrochemicals could be displaced through direct, indirect and product substitution of biochemicals for petrochemicals. That is three times more than the potential for current pollution prevention strategies.
POLLUTION SOLUTIONS is a series of fact sheets about pollution prevention strategies with biochemical substitutes prepared by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR). If you would like more information, contact:
Tel: (612) 379-3815 FAX: (612) 379-3920
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