Vision

The vision of The Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis (CEBC) is to generate technologies that will transform the catalytic manufacture and use of chemicals into inherently safe and ecologically responsible processes, while retaining their economic viability. The chemical industry is vital to this nation's economy. It provides nearly one million jobs. Its 70,000 products are worth nearly $340 billion and comprise about 10 percent of the total values of U.S. exports. Environmental issues cost the chemical industry about 3 percent of its sales revenue or $10 billion each year. Additional regulations will increase the cost and will adversely affect the industrial competitiveness in the global marketplace.
The perceived impact of CEBC is a transformed set of industries wherein pollution prevention and environmental sustainability replace waste generation, pollution, regulation and remediation. Examples of the many envisioned transformations are:

• catalytic processes in which conventional organic and chlorinated solvents are either totally eliminated or significantly replaced by benign solvents such as carbon dioxide or water;
  

• processes in which liquid acids are replaced by solid acids;
  

• processes where biocatalysts (enzymes/microbial cells) replace heavy metal or strong acid/base catalysts;
  

• or even more advanced processes which implement modified enzymes or enzyme mimics, that are smaller, simpler, and more durable than enzymes, yet maintain their powerful selectivity and activity;
  

• processes that utilize raw materials efficiently in their conversion to desired products

The challenge is to develop environmentally beneficial processes that are also stable and economically viable when operated at the desired production scales. We also envision creating a knowledge base of catalysis that facilitates ready access to information on the science, technology, and environmental and economic properties of past, present and future catalyst systems, and a catalyst discovery system.

The Center's vision includes the education of a future workforce of engineers and scientists that will be uniquely trained in the engineering, science and optimization of environmentally beneficial, economically viable, catalytic processes. CEBC implements its diversity strategic plan to enhance the recruitment of students, faculty and staff from among women and traditionally underrepresented groups with the goal of exceeding national engineering-wide averages in these categories.

Last updated, June 4, 2008

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. EEC0310689
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.