Industry

Industry holds an indispensable relationship with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations, illuminating the fact that sustainable industrial development plays a vital role in achieving these global objectives. Industry, particularly manufacturing, serves as a critical driver for economic growth, employment, and technological advancement. SDG 9, specifically, underlines the importance of industry, innovation, and infrastructure, underscoring the need for resilient infrastructure, inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and fostering innovation. However, the intricate interlinkages between industry and other SDGs must not be overlooked.

For instance, clean and sustainable industrial processes contribute significantly to SDG 13, aiming at climate action, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency, and adopting clean and environmentally sound technologies. Similarly, SDG 12, responsible consumption and production, demands the industries to promote resource and energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and provide access to basic services, green and decent jobs, and a better quality of life for all. It motivates industries to adopt sustainable practices and to integrate sustainability information into their reporting cycle.

The role of industries extends to SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic Growth) as industries stimulate economic activities that lead to job creation and thus, improve living standards. Also, in respect to SDG 5 (Gender Equality), industrial sectors have the potential to provide opportunities for women in the workforce and help bridge the gender wage gap.

Nevertheless, the transformation to a more sustainable industry is not without challenges. The demands of rapid technological changes, the need for significant capital investments in green technologies, and the transition to a circular economy are some of the hurdles industry faces. Further, this transformation requires a multilevel and multi-stakeholder approach, calling for cooperation among governments, private sectors, academia, and civil society to pave the path to achieving SDGs.

Elsevier, Current Research in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 4, January 2021
Porous liquids form a new class of materials, which are liquid at room temperature and possess permanent porosity. The latter is a characteristic generally associated with solid-state only. Since the idea of porous liquid was exploited over a decade ago, the researchers see an opportunity of solving the solid material's limitation in gas capture and separation. In this discussion, we present the most recent developments on porous liquids and, in our perspectives, how they can tackle energy and environmental issues by their coupling with membrane technology.
Buildings consume vast amounts of energy and pollute the environment in various ways. Façade is a part of building's architecture that can play a significant role in reducing energy consumption, as well as alleviating its negative environmental effects. Although using smart materials in buildings' facades can help dramatically to attain the mentioned goals, very limited studies have been conducted regarding the mentioned issues. Moreover, existing studies have investigated only a few number of smart materials simultaneously.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 26, December 2020
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration has been increasing in the last two decades and, as a major greenhouse gas, it has been linked to global warming and climate changes. Capture and conversion of CO2 into fuels and chemicals offer opportunities to mitigate the increasing CO2 buildup, while simultaneously adding value to CO2. The main limitation in CO2 conversion is its high thermodynamic stability, thus requiring catalysts and energy input to drive the transformation.
Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 26, December 2020
Among the major pollutants in the atmosphere, carbon oxides are the result of multiple factors, mainly due to human activities. Nowadays, the decrease in carbon oxides emissions represents a pressing challenge necessary to limit their harmful effects on the climate change. As a result, numerous strategies dedicated to the environmental preservation are currently under study and, among these, all that kind of technologies that produce power from renewable sources offer promising solutions.
Elsevier, Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy, Volume 18, December 2020
In this essay some important forerunners of green chemistry will be discussed and compared with the present state. The relationship to ethics will be considered. Starting from the new movement of green chemistry by Anastas, some important highlights will be presented. The new activities of IUPAC and other institutions on the concepts of metrics for green syntheses will be discussed. The prime importance of the inclusion of developing African countries into the concepts will also be covered.
In this paper, we use standard scenarios focussing on renewable energy, energy efficiency and grid investments. We take stock of the literature and quantitative data on available sources of financing for clean energy to qualitatively match supply and demand of specific sources of finance in the European context. Our analysis shows that under the current investment mandates and lending criteria the required funds for a successful energy transition are available. In fact, the current landscape of financing sources can provide between two and six times what is necessary.
Elsevier, Case Studies in Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Volume 2, September 2020
After water, concrete is the second most used material in the world. Using life cycle assessments, concrete has typically been found to be 80% of a residential building by weight. Cement production consumes large amounts of energy, motivating a search for sustainable alternatives. Rice husk ash produced in controlled combustion has been found to be a viable replacement for cement. Renewable and sustainable, rice husks have the potential to produce energy while yielding an ash product for use in concrete.
CeO2 shows unique catalytic properties by an acid–base bifunctionality as well as redox properties. The acid–base bifunctional properties of CeO2 have been applied to the non-reductive CO2 conversion with alcohols such as dimethyl carbonate (DMC) synthesis from CO2 and methanol. CeO2 shows very high selectivity to DMC; however, the yield of DMC is strongly limited by the equilibrium. The combination of the synthesis of organic carbonates from CO2 and corresponding alcohols with suitable H2O removal methods can enhance the yield of the organic carbonates beyond the equilibrium limitation.
Manufacturing challenges are anticipated to become worse in the coming decades owing to global material and energy constraints combined with environmental issues associated with conventional processes. Addressing these difficulties calls for a significant amount of research to be conducted to establish robust new technologies that are cost-effective and energy efficient, while at the same time minimizing environmental pollution.
This special issue explores the influence that insects and other invertebrates have on ecosystem services and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and makes a case for insect science to promote a sustainability science approach.

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