Designing Process Systems for Net-Zero Emissions and Nature- and People-Positive Decisions

Abstract

Sustainability of the chemical and materials industry (CMI) requires it to achieve net-zero emis-sions of greenhouse gases and other resources while making decisions that have a net-positive impact on nature and society. Many corporations, nations, and universities have pledged to meet such goals but systematic models, methods, and tools to guide this transition are missing. We pre-sent a framework to meet this need. It involves developing a comprehensive, open access model of the global CMI. In addition to existing technologies, this model includes emerging alternatives for renewable energy, circularization, and carbon capture, utilization and storage. Systematic methods help identify innovation opportunities and develop roadmaps that account for long-term changes such as technology evolution and climate change. Meeting the goal of net-zero emis-sions requires inclusion of life cycle impacts. Nature-positive decisions need to encourage eco-logical protection and restoration. This is enabled by a multiscale framework for determining the absolute environmental sustainability of products and processes by accounting for the availability of ecosystem services and their carrying capacities at multiple spatial scales. People-positive decisions need to account for the benefits to society versus harm. Issues of social justice and eq-uity also need to be included in the decisions. More work has focused on the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions but the need for better models, methods and applications remains. Na-ture- and people-positive decisions need to consider spatial and temporal variation of ecological and social systems. Meeting these challenges presents many novel opportunities for socially-relevant process systems engineering.