Bio-based materials for the chemical industry: opportunities and challenges

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Bio-based materials for the chemical industry: opportunities and challenges

By The Royal Society of Chemistry Management Group

Date and time

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:00 - 20:30 GMT

Location

Department of Chemistry, Durham University

Lower Mount Joy South Road Durham DH1 3LE United Kingdom

Description

This is an evening lecture from Lucy Nattrass, Nouryon. 6.00 pm in CG141 (Musgrave Room), Department of Chemistry for a 6.30 pm start in CG60.

Today the chemical industry derives most of its organic raw materials from fossil resources, liberating fossil carbon that was sequestered from the atmosphere millions of years ago. Bio-based chemicals are produced from plant- or animal- derived raw materials, including sugar, fats and oils, and organic waste. The carbon in these materials is recently sequestered from the atmosphere and it therefore considered a renewable source.

Many of the commodity and specialty chemicals that we use today can be produced from bio-based sources and the Bio-based Industry Consortium (BIC) set a target in the 2017 Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) to increase the share of bio-based or renewable feedstocks to 25% of the total volume of organic chemical raw materials by 2030.

This lecture will explore the technical and societal factors driving the growth of the bio-based economy; the opportunities this presents for the chemical industry, including how it can contribute to the transition to a circular economy; and the key challenges, including recent lessons from industry.

There will be wine and networking at the end of the lecture in in CG141 (Musgrave Room).


Lucy Nattrass joined Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) as an Innovation Project Leader for Bio-based Materials in August 2016. Her primary responsibility is to support the delivery of the bio-based strategy working closely with Nouryon’s businesses to identify, evaluate and source bio-based materials to contribute to Nouryon’s sustainability targets.

Lucy holds a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield, UK, and a Masters in Clean Chemical Technology from the University of York, Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence. Prior to joining Nouryon, Lucy has worked for eight years in strategic consultancy in sustainable energy and materials. Most recently as a Managing Consultant at E4tech, where she led the biofuels and bio-based chemicals sector.

Organised by

An Interest Group of the Royal Society of Chemistry focusing on all aspects of management.

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