Chemists and Chemical Engineers

Chemists in a Sustainable World

In this course, Professor David Cole-Hamilton (University of St Andrews) discusses the role of chemists and chemical engineers in a sustainable world. To do so, we begin by: (i) understanding the ways in which chemistry impacts our society the most; and (ii) the pioneers of chemical science, and understand the importance of finding a solution for water purification technologies; before (iii) understand the scarcity of elements and the eventual necessity of a circular economy; and then (iv) understand how we can reduce our environmental impact; and finally (v) take a look at the future of where chemistry and chemical engineering might be headed.

Chemists and Chemical Engineers

In the first mini-lecture, we begin the discussion of the role of chemists and chemical engineers in the modern world. Certain perceptions of the field of chemistry can linger, and to begin this lecture we address some of the more common ones. For example, what does a ‘chemical free zone’ actually mean? We then move on to discuss the state of the world as it moves from a linear economy to a circular one, and from fossil fuels to renewable resources. We then discuss the ways in which chemistry impacts our society the most, beginning with the Haber-Bosch process: the most energy demanding reaction in the world, responsible for 1% of the global energy consumption. We talk about the necessity to reduce our ammonia usage, before moving onto show how chemistry has impacted medicine and drug design in the recent COVID-19 pandemic.