The chemical industry contributes to over 95 per cent of all products made globally, including such important everyday items as medicines, plastics, cosmetics and fertilisers. And the sector has played a critical role in providing ingredients for hand sanitiser and coatings for PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the industry now faces the challenge of working in a greener way. To create the products we need, the industry uses oil and other non-renewable inputs in massive amounts, consumes vast quantities of energy, and has historically been responsible for releasing many types of pollutant into the environment. But even in a zero-carbon world, people will still need food, pharmaceuticals, and the other critical things that chemistry provides.
The Carbon Neutral Laboratory, part of the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Sustainable Chemistry, is at the forefront of chemistry’s bid to reinvent itself as an environmentally friendly industry. Built from natural materials and powered by renewable energy, it will generate enough carbon credits over 25 years to offset the energy used in its construction. The building has been awarded BREEAM Outstanding and LEED Platinum certifications, the highest level of green building certifications, and features an array of water reduction, natural ventilation and heat-capturing technologies. Collectively, these measures have enabled the facility to deliver power savings of more than 60% versus traditional building designs.
Research England’s UK Research Partnership Investment Fund invested £10.6 million towards the construction of the centre, and this contribution was matched by GSK as well as by contributions from the Wolfson Foundation and University of Nottingham, for support totalling £24 million to date. The investment enabled this unique infrastructure to support and develop novel and world-leading sustainable chemistry methodologies and research, housing a multidisciplinary team of over 120 researchers.
The Carbon Neutral Laboratory’s approach to greener and more ethical practices develops a positive attitude to innovation in its students and the University is now part of a 5-year, £5 million collaboration between GSK and Universities of Nottingham and Strathclyde supported by EPSRC and focussed on accelerating the discovery of new medicines using smarter, faster and greener chemical processes.