Journey towards sustainable development: A role for chemical engineers

Since the publication of the report entitled, Our Common Future, under the auspices of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), also known as the Brundtland Commission, it has been generally acknowledged that the increasing use of non-renewable resources to support an increasing population has created an unsustainable situation. Should this rate of use be maintained, two dire consequences will follow: first, the future generations will be unable to maintain a high standard of living, and second, developing countries will have less of an opportunity to bring their living standards to a level comparable to that of the affluent West. The practice of chemical engineering, perhaps more than any other technical discipline, involves the use of natural material and energy resources for the production of value-added articles and services of commerce. It is critically important that chemists and chemical engineers incorporate the ideas of sustainability into process and product design, manufacturing, and value chain management for the purpose of minimizing resource utilization and adverse environmental impact. This paper deals with the ideas of sustainability, and what chemists and chemical engineers can do to prevent the consequences of unsustainable resource utilization.