Section 8.5—Environmental Chemistry What other considerations do companies need to think about?

Waste Concerns In 2003, the United States created more than 236 million tons of trash  About 4.5 pounds per person each day  This is an increase from 2001 (about 4.4 pounds per person each day)

Working Towards a Solution Source reduction  Cutting back on packaging and modifying manufacturing to reduce waste Recycling  Paper, glass, plastic and metal Composting  Organic trash (food waste or lawn clipping) can be decomposed and used as fertilizer Combustion  Burning of trash at high temperatures can create electricity Making Landfills more efficient  Maximizing their capacity

Renewable & Non-renewable Resources 90% of the energy the US uses is from non-renewable resources  Hundreds of millions of years to accumulate  Petroleum is estimated to be gone in years  Natural Gas is estimated to be gone within 200 years at best  Coal is estimated to be gone within 300 years As supplies decreases, cost increases

Working Towards a Solution Developing the viability of renewable resources  Water  Solar  Nuclear  Fuel-cell cars  Hybrid cars  Wind

Fresh Water 97.2% of the world’s water is salt water  Turning salt water into fresh water is expensive 2.14% is in polar ice caps and glaciers Less than 1 % of the world’s water is in water vapor or in the ground, lakes, rivers and streams as fresh water.

Water Uses Obvious ways:  Drinking, cooking, bathing Less obvious ways  Appliances (ice makers, etc.), toilets, water used for crops and livestock, for manufacturing products, for cooling, etc.

Water Contamination Water sources are being polluted by:  Waste poured directly into the water  Oil washed off roads from rain  Buried waste that leaks  Agricultural runoff  Household chemicals (lawn care, detergent, etc.) Clean-up of contaminated water is very costly and takes a long time!

Air Global problem  Air pollution doesn’t stay local…it moves around the whole planet! Aerosols  Pollution particles too small to see attract water droplets that can be seen as fog or smoke  Can cause chemical reactions for a long time Particulates  Larger particles that settle to the ground.

Air, continued Industrial smog  From burning of coal and oil  Produces particulates and sulfur dioxide (creates acid rain) Photochemical smog  Need exposure to sunlight to cause chemical reaction  From internal-combustion engines

Ozone Ozone (O3) is found in our atmosphere  It absorbs UV light (cancer causing) Ozone recycles itself O3 + UV light  O2 + O O2 + O  O3 + heat

Ozone, continued Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s) decompose ozone CFC’s can remain in atmosphere for a long time  Their use has been discontinued, but effects are still being felt

Greenhouse Gases Light energy comes to ground from the sun during the day and warms the ground The ground releases this energy back into the atmosphere Greenhouse gases absorb this energy and then re-release it down to the ground Greenhouse gases “trap” in the heat and prevent it from escaping the atmosphere

Greenhouse Gases, continued Carbon Dioxide (CO 2 ) is the major greenhouse gas being produced by people At the same time, people are removing the planet’s natural system for removing CO 2, plants and trees

Global Warming The dramatic increase in greenhouse gases will cause temperatures to rise This increase in temperature will cause polar ice-caps and glaciers to melt  This will raise the sea-level, flooding many parts of the world  This will also change the conveyer belt of the oceans, which maintain our weather patterns

Your Job What can you do, as citizens, to help?  Reduce Reduce the amount of trash you produce  Reuse Reuse working items, repair broken items, donate unwanted items  Recycle  Become involved in public policy issues and exercise your voter privileges!

What did you learn about chemistry in industry?

Chemistry in Industry Products some make Reversible chemical reaction some from Reaction Quotient Can reach Equilibrium Equilibrium constant Described by Can be compared to To determine if it’s at Le Chatelier’s principle More can be made with Pushes reaction to re-establish