Preface to the Second Edition Free

To be worth the effort to produce and the money to buy, a second edition of any text book should, in addition to the correction of error and necessary updating, reflect the reconsideration of its initial purpose and structure. Does it deliver the author's intentions? Does it meet the reader's expectations? While I have sought to do the former, only the reader can judge whether the changes and updates fulfil the latter.

The corrected proofs of the first edition of Chemistry for Sustainable Technologies: A Foundation were returned to the publisher in September 2010. In the ten or so years since, the number of publications recorded in Web of Science has increased (as of 8 June 2019) to 72 890 021, that is, by over 20 million (nearly 90 000 of them with ‘sustainability’ as a keyword). About 100 000 articles on sustainability were abstracted into SciFinder during the same period. A bibliometric analysis of 20 000 research articles, published between 2000 and 2015 in the important field of biofuels, reveals the large number of disciplines involved and their inter-relationship (Figure 1).

The more than 500 papers, reviews and articles I cited in the first edition have themselves attracted (April 2017) ca. 10 000 additional citations in the period since 2011, providing a further motivation for an update.

This vastly greater quantity of published material from the wider range of disciplines I have ventured into makes it even more necessary for me to crave the continuing indulgence and understanding of those more expert than me in such areas. However, it seems to me that the foundation I seek to provide is more than ever necessary to assess and form judgements about matters relevant to sustainable chemistry. This is a sphere that can never be cubed.

The 2012 Paris Agreement brought a measure of international consensus on climate change that is being tested (and contested) by climate change deniers with the support of a US President. However, progress towards sustainability and its ongoing challenges are exemplified by two recent milestones and a TV programme: during the first three months of 2018, the UK's wind-farms produced more power than its eight nuclear power stations; in July 2016, the Solar Impulse 2, an aircraft entirely powered by 17 000 photovoltaic cells, completed its circumnavigation of the Earth, though taking 16 months to do so. David Attenborough's TV series for the BBC, ‘Blue Planet 2’, heightened public awareness around the world of the impact of our plastic waste on the oceans and seas and their inhabitants. The contribution of chemistry, both to the problem and to the solution, is explored in this book.

These examples also show that the issues are too important, the challenges too great and the timescale increasingly short for chemists, and scientists and engineers more generally, to adopt anything but a steadfast and persistent defence of open-minded scepticism, objectivity and rigour in confronting the misuse of science and scientific evidence as well as shallow thinking. Unchanged is the importance of understanding the fundamental (and enduring) physico-chemical principles that underpin natural phenomena. Ignorance may be regrettable but is forgivable – ask any expert! Wilful dismissal of masses of widely-known factual evidence, on the other hand, increasingly seen as a valid political strategy, is not. Worse, false reports can be created and disseminated via social media in the form of ‘fake news’ or lies. The similarity between the advice proffered primarily to science students in Appendix 1 of the first edition (and in Chapter 13 of this edition) and Facebook's recent full page advertisement (presented in amended form in Table 13.1) on evaluating posts in the media and other sources of information is testament to its more general relevance.

Political upheavals also impinge on the environment, directly and indirectly. In Palmyra, in Syria, we saw selfless heroism and sacrifice in the defence of our collective cultural and historical heritage. An 83 year-old archaeologist, Khalid Al-Asaad, was arbitrarily beheaded on 18 August 2015 for his role in protecting important artefacts. It is a pity that the Nobel Peace Prize cannot be awarded posthumously.

The upheavals of the Arab Spring in Egypt also sadly led to the end of attempts to produce an edition of this book in Arabic. As one with an interest in the history of science, I know the debt today's chemists (and not just chemists) owe to the early exploration of the chemical world undertaken by pioneers from the Middle East, including Arab and Persian scholars of the medieval period. Maybe this project can be revisited in time.

The basic organisation of the book is essentially unchanged except in one significant respect and that is to remedy a defect in the first edition by changing the order of the chapters dealing with chemicals from biomass and with energy. It seems to me that the question of energy and its capture and the degree to which it is feasible to power and fuel modern society with renewables needed to be addressed first (Chapter 11), both to underline the challenge of scale in the development of alternative materials and energy sources and because of its overarching importance. A much expanded Chapter 12 then examines the role to be played by biomass in providing fuels and chemicals (and why progress is not meeting expectations). An appreciation of both Chapters is aided by the straightforward application of the first and second law of thermodynamics and of the concept of energy density.

As befits a ‘foundation’, I also try not to lose a link between new developments and important earlier work.

The work summarised in the book is the result of the insights, efforts and genius of countless people who have contributed and are contributing to scientific knowledge. Sadly, some, including Harry Kroto who wrote the Foreward to the first edition, have passed on since 2011 and are no longer with us. Their inspiration and legacy will live on and maybe my retention of the optimistic quotation from Henry IV Part 1 at the beginning of Chapter 2 will turn out to have been justified.

Of a number of colleagues who have, in various ways, aided in the preparation of this new edition, I would particularly like to express my thanks to Professor John Winfield of the University of Glasgow for his critical reading of the entire manuscript. It is much the better for his comments. Any remaining errors or omissions are entirely my own.

I thank the University of Liverpool for a Visiting Professorship and for providing facilities necessary for the preparation and completion of this book.

Finally, I cannot express sufficiently my thanks to my wife, Susan, for her generous and continuous support. Without it neither edition of this book would have been written.

The full implications of the Covid-19 pandemic were unclear at the time the manuscript of this book was submitted, early in 2020. Its essential argument is unaffected, however: sustainable development is aided by a wider and deeper appreciation of basic physico-chemical principles, such as the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, particularly in the processing of materials and the use of energy. The main text as submitted is unaltered. However, the impact of the pandemic during pre-publication necessitates a short update to be inserted. A Coda has been added, which considers some of the consequences, implications and possibilities arising from the pandemic. These highlight developments that may affect the transition to a more sustainable way of living.

Neil Winterton

Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool