EDITORIAL

Announcing Environmental
Progress and Sustainable
Energy
Martin A. Abraham
College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza,
Youngstown, OH 44555, [email protected]

Published online 27 February 2009 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/ep.10349

This issue marks the inaugural issue of Environ- green engineering. A 1996 editorial, ‘‘The Great
mental Progress and Sustainable Energy, an Green Debate’’ by Don McKay, was rapidly followed
expanded title for a journal with a long history. To by a series of technical articles that focused on green
mark the expanded scope of the journal, we have engineering concepts. An article on life cycle analysis
prepared a special issue focusing on sustainable [1] appears to be the first explicit inclusion with an
energy. The manuscripts submitted include a mix of emphasis on green design principles.
invited and submitted articles spanning a broad range By the early 2000s, green chemistry and engineer-
of issues in sustainable energy. I want to discuss ing became firmly established and more pervasive
what we intend to include within the scope of the throughout industrial practice. Opportunities to
journal, but before doing so, I believe that it’s worth- improve processes through design modifications,
while to look at the history of the journal, and the incorporate recycle, recover waste products for reuse,
environmental industry in general. and otherwise minimize the quantity or hazard of
Twenty-eight years ago, when Environmental Pro- waste streams became more economically interesting.
gress was introduced, the chemical industry was first Environmental Progress grew into the area of sustain-
being asked to address the challenges brought on by ability, with several manuscripts published in the
process effluents. The great environmental revolution summer 2000 issue [2,3]. Because much of this work
was underway, the Environmental Protection Agency was done in industry or government labs and gener-
had recently been launched, and industrialists needed ally targeted industrial applications, EP was able to
to clean up their waste streams so that they could be slide into this area with vigor. In 2003, AIChE
sent to the rivers or dispersed into the air. There announced the formation of the Institute for Sustain-
were new treatment methods being developed, exist- ability [4], and by 2005, a regular column on sustain-
ing methods being adapted to new needs, and a ability was included within the journal [5].
great interest in technologies to ‘‘destroy’’ wastes, so With the energy crisis of 2007 and increased atten-
that they could be released to the environment. tion to global climate change, energy issues became a
In the 1990s, folks started to wonder if end-of-pipe much greater part of the environmental portfolio, and
treatment was really the best course of action, and the first reference to sustainable energy is found [6].
green chemistry and engineering first emerged on the As nearly all chemical processes are substantial con-
scene. 1987 was also the year of the Brundtland sumers of energy, the generation and use of clean
Commission, which released their definition of sus- energy has become a major concern for our industry.
tainability, the definition that is now commonly In fact, it is our industry that has historically been
accepted. 1996 marked the first Green Chemistry and focused on the production of energy, so the issues
Engineering Conference. Environmental Progress that surround energy generation and consumption
adapted, expanding its scope to focus on issues of are key elements of concern for chemical practi-
tioners. Thus, it is now time for EP to once again
expand its scope and consider energy issues within
Ó 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers its agenda. To emphasize the significance of these

Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy (Vol.28, No.1) DOI 10.1002/ep April 2009 1
changes, and the importance of energy in our new tists is in the area of distributed generation of electric-
world, we have determined to change the title, and ity. Distributed energy focuses primarily on solar and
thus Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy wind, as well as the related problems of getting
has been born. energy from many small providers into an electricity
I have been asked by many people what we mean grid and monitoring this grid via distributed resour-
by sustainable energy. And how does this topic apply ces. As the Dean of a STEM college, where I have
to the traditional audience for EP? The current special physicists, computer scientists, and electrical engi-
issue provides some excellent examples. neers, I have come to appreciate the breadth of this
Perhaps first and foremost is the area of biofuels problem. However, I have found little contribution
and biorefineries. After all, if biomass is to take the from chemical engineers, despite the numerous engi-
place of petroleum as the primary chemical feed- neering challenges that need to be overcome to
stock, will it not be the chemical engineers that de- develop a commercially viable distributed electricity
velop the processes for these new raw materials? And system.
will we not also be interested in the wastes from Hydrogen, and the use of fuel cells for the produc-
such processes, or perhaps more importantly in the tion of electricity from hydrogen, should be another
era of sustainability, how to convert these raw materi- area ripe for contributions from chemical engineers,
als into useful products while minimizing the genera- and appropriate for inclusion in the sustainable
tion of wastes? So clearly all subjects related to bio- energy section of EP&SE. Perhaps because the indus-
fuels will fall within the category of sustainable try remains precommercial, the interest in this area
energy. Several of the articles within this issue remains largely in the scientific fundamentals, and
address biofuels, including one very interesting sub- may not yet be ready for the applied emphasis of our
mission describing safety issues associated with pro- journal. I hope that over the next few years this
duction of bioethanol, and the need to adapt knowl- changes, as fuel cell technologies achieve commercial
edge from the traditional chemical enterprise for new success.
applications. The journal will surely continue to evolve, and I
It has recently been said that the cheapest kilowatt look forward to watching this evolution over the next
of energy is the one that you don’t use. In that several years. I am encouraged by the broad interest
regard, issues of energy efficiency in chemical pro- we have received recently, the increased impact fac-
cesses will also squarely fall within the scope of tor, and the incredible surge in submissions. The jour-
sustainable energy. How can we make existing nal looks strong, and the new title should enhance
processes more energy efficient? The use of heat our relevance even further. I appreciate the opportu-
integration, cogeneration, and other mechanisms of nity to serve as editor during this exciting transition.
minimizing the energy consumption as a design Thank you.
constraint in chemical processes is a component of
one of the current contributions and will surely
become a staple of the sustainable energy section. LITERATURE CITED
The future of energy will be tied to existing hydro- 1. Kniel G.E., Delmarco K., & Petrie J. G. (1996). Life
carbon resources for some time to come. As a result, cycle assessment applied to process design: Envi-
technologies for the capture of CO2 must also be ronmental and economic analysis and optimization
considered within the context of sustainable energy, of a nitric acid plant, Environmental Progress, 15,
as they allow for the use of petrochemical resources 221–228.
in a less environmentally hazardous way. Included in 2. Fava J.A., Brady K., Young S.B., & Saur K. (2000).
this issue is an article that discusses the nuclear Sustainable strategies using life cycle approaches,
power industry and its potential to serve as an oppor- Environmental Progress, 9, 61–64.
tunity for energy-efficient CO2 capture. Although 3. Beaver E. (2000). LCA and total cost assessment,
many will argue that nuclear is not sustainable, or Environmental Progress, 19, 2, 130–139.
not green, I have found few indications that we can 4. Announcement. AIChE announces the formation
meet the energy challenges of the future without of its institute for sustainability. (2003). 22, A21–
considering a revived nuclear industry. The use of A22.
nuclear to support the chemical industry, or chemical 5. Abraham M. (2005). Sustainable engineering for
processes within the nuclear industry, will be engineers, Environmental Progress, 24, 10–11.
included within the context of sustainable energy. 6. Granda C.B., Zhu L., & Holtzapple M.T. (2003).
One area that I have been disappointed to find lit- Sustainable liquid biofuels and their environmental
tle contribution from chemical engineers and scien- impact, Environmental Progress, 26, 233–250.

2 April 2009 Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy (Vol.28, No.1)