Green Chemistry and Sustainable Science and Technology: A Brief Introduction

"Green Chemistry and Sustainable Science and Technology: A Brief Introduction," as the title implies, introduces and briefly explains the emerging science of green chemistry and, more broadly the concepts of sustainable science and technology. This book defines and explains green chemistry and how it relates to the achievement of sustainability. It begins in Chapter 1 with a discussion of sustainability. The book views the environment as consisting of five interacting spheres: (1) The hydrosphere, (2) the atmosphere, (3) the geosphere, (4) the biosphere, and (5) the anthrosphere, that part of the environment constructed and operated by humans. A section of this chapter discusses the all-important topic of energy, how humankind initially depended upon the sun for energy, the brief but spectacular era of fossil fuels, and the necessary return to direct and indirect solar energy sources through modern technology. The chapter also defines and discusses green science and green technology. Developed since the mid-1990s, green chemistry is based upon twelve principles, which are listed and explained in the second of the two chapters in this book. Environmental chemistry is a necessary part of green chemistry and is defined and outlined in this chapter. For readers who may not have much knowledge of chemistry, this chapter also provides a brief overview of the most essential concepts of chemistry including elements, atoms, molecules, compounds, and chemical reactions. The Table of Contents of the is the following:

Chapter 1
Sustainability and the Environment
1.1 SUSTAINABILITY
As We Enter the Anthropocene
Achieving Sustainability
Rethinking Environmentalism and Sustainability
1.2 THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE FIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SPHERES
1.3 SEEING GREEN
1.4 NATURAL CAPITAL OF THE EARTH
Evolution of the Utilization of Natural Capital
1.5 SUSTAINABILITY AS A GROUP EFFORT: IT TAKES A (VERY BIG) VILLAGE
1.6 SUSTAINABLE ENERGY: AWAY FROM THE SUN AND BACK AGAIN
The Brief Era of Fossil Fuels
Back to the Sun
1.7 GREEN SCIENCE
1.8 GREEN TECHNOLOGY
Unintended Consequences and the Need for Green Technology
1.9 SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ECO-ECONOMY
Industrial Ecology
1.10 GREEN PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: DESIGN FOR SUSTAINABILITY

Chapter 2
The Key Role of Chemistry and Making Chemistry Green
2.1 CHEMISTRY IS GOOD (AND UNAVOIDABLE)
2.2 THE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS CHEMISTRY
2.3 WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMISTRY?
2.5 WHAT IS GREEN CHEMISTRY?
2.6 GREEN CHEMISTRY AND SYNTHETIC CHEMISTRY
Yield and Atom Economy
2.7 REDUCTION OF RISK: HAZARD AND EXPOSURE
2.8 THE RISKS OF NO RISKS
2.9 WASTE PREVENTION
2.10 BASIC PRINCIPLES OF GREEN CHEMISTRY
2.11 SOME THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT CHEMISTRY BEFORE YOU EVEN START
2.12 COMBINING ATOMS TO MAKE MOLECULES AND COMPOUNDS
Chemical Compounds
Ionic Bonds
2.13 THE PROCESS OF MAKING AND BREAKING CHEMICAL BONDS: CHEMICAL REACTIONS
2.14 THE NATURE OF MATTER AND STATES OF MATTER
States of Matter