6. Sustainable Chemical Engineering

Sustainable development is concerned with the depletion of resources, the changing climate, and population growth. These are all intrinsically linked and impact the Earth which we all share. Engineering in a sustainable way that preserves the state of the Earth for future generations is therefore of importance to chemical engineers.

This module will look into the importance of sustainable engineering and its purpose, discussing the challenges faced in an ever-changing world, and the role that the engineer can play in contributing to this.

The life-cycle of products and processes is to be considered through Life-Cycle Assessments, which use the concept of “cradle-to-grave” to assess carbon emissions over an entire product’s existence.
This module will also explore different forms of sustainable energy generation, which continue to hold more prevalence in the energy mix as society shifts away from fossil fuels as the dominant energy source.