A Systems Approach to Chemistry Is Required to Achieve Sustainable Transformation of Matter: The Case of Ammonia and Reactive Nitrogen

Abstract

Chemistry has played a central role over the past century in the large-scale anthropogenic transformation of matter into diverse materials that have improved the quality of life for many people on our planet. The lens of chemistry is fundamentally necessary to understand the resulting flux of chemical substances in Earth system processes, the unintended consequences of those transformations, impacts on food supply security, water and energy concerns, ways to mediate and adapt to climate change, loss of biodiversity, and how best to build and maintain resilient ecosystems. Reactive nitrogen compounds (Nr) such as ammonia from the industrial fixation of atmospheric nitrogen exemplify both the central importance of chemistry in providing food and meeting basic human needs for a global population of 8 billion people and the sustainability challenges arising from the intended and unintended consequences of large-scale human production and release of Nr. The chemistry profession can use systems thinking (ST) tools and the Planetary Boundaries framework to understand and address challenges facing the entire Earth system resulting from the altered biogeochemical flows of nitrogen. This analysis has compelling priority due to the roles Nr currently plays in global food production and ammonia’s potential role as an energy carrier for large-scale human activities in a future low carbon economy and as a domestic refrigerant while hydrofluoro­carbons (HFCs) are being phased out. As this example illustrates, navigating the complex benefits and challenges large-scale human activity imposes on Earth system processes requires the convergence of chemistry research, industrial practice, and education. Since the chemical reactions and processes that transform matter are foundational to sustainability challenges, this perspective maps, through a chemistry for sustainability pyramid, ‘multiple levels at which chemistry can contribute toward the emergence of sustainability of the Earth system’. We conclude with recommendations for steps the profession of chemistry can take to make education relevant and engaging and to connect chemistry research and practice to cross-disciplinary sustainability challenges, thereby transforming the science of transformation of matter toward sustainability.

Sustainable Fertilizers: Publication Landscape on Wastes as Nutrient Sources, Wastewater Treatment Processes for Nutrient Recovery, Biorefineries, and Green Ammonia Synthesis

“…Green ammonia is defined as zero-carbon ammonia, made using sustainable electricity, water, and air. 31,380,381 Green ammonia synthesis has been proposed to first take place by substituting steam reforming of methane with green hydrogen generated from green energy-powered electrolysis of water. 331,332 Application of the green hydrogen into a H−B process powered by renewable energy would generate green ammonia and zero carbon.…”

“…Blue ammonia, or low-carbon ammonia, is the result of brown ammonia with carbon capture and storage technology applied during manufacturing processes. Green ammonia is defined as zero-carbon ammonia, made using sustainable electricity, water, and air. ,, Green ammonia synthesis has been proposed to first take place by substituting steam reforming of methane with green hydrogen generated from green energy-powered electrolysis of water. , Application of the green hydrogen into a H–B process powered by renewable energy would generate green ammonia and zero carbon . An additional stage of green ammonia is the direct catalyzed synthesis of ammonia from water and nitrogen powered by renewable energy.…”

An Interactive Planetary Boundaries Systems Thinking Learning Tool to Integrate Sustainability into the Chemistry Curriculum

“…A more complicated example of emergence can be studied through a life cycle analysis of fixed nitrogen in the context of biogeochemical flows, where reactive nitrogen species exhibit multiple simultaneous unintended consequences, from which emerge planetary challenges that can be mapped onto the UN sustainable Development Goals. 12,27 A common and challenging feature of complex systems is their probabilistic nature: for a given change in conditions, a system's response will generally depend on the detailed states of its components, and component interactions are often statedependent as well. For large and complex systems, it is often difficult or impossible to measure all of these details completely, in which case predictions must be in terms of how likely a system is to respond in various ways to a given change.…”

“…Novel entities such as CFCs and nitrous oxide from the biogeochemical flows Earth System process are transported into the stratosphere, where they perturb the Chapman cycle through a set of interacting catalytic cycles. A more complicated example of emergence can be studied through a life cycle analysis of fixed nitrogen in the context of biogeochemical flows, where reactive nitrogen species exhibit multiple simultaneous unintended consequences, from which emerge planetary challenges that can be mapped onto the UN sustainable Development Goals. , …”

Exploring curriculum adoption of green and sustainable chemistry in undergraduate organic chemistry courses: results from a national survey in the United States

“…In addition to green chemistry which oriented chemistry towards sustainability, more recent advances to sustainable chemistry include the development of two sustainability frameworks: the planetary boundaries and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). 27 These frameworks allow chemistry to be taught in a more relevant and engaging way since the isolated chemistry facts become explicitly entwined with real-world applications and problems through the integration of systems thinking. 5,28 Systems thinking promotes students to view a system as a whole instead of a collection of independent parts framing the context of chemistry within both social and environmental systems.…”