Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

Performance metrics for sustainable catalysis in industry

Nature Catalysis volume 4, pages 186–192 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

An Author Correction to this article was published on 14 May 2021

This article has been updated

This Comment articulates simple metrics that can guide early catalysis research to make the manufacture of fuels and chemicals sustainable and affordable. These metrics cover resource efficiency (waste/CO2 production, selectivity) as well as conversion performances that look at different aspects of the process.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Carbon and inorganic wastes afforded by the production of polymers and their precursors.
Fig. 2: Historical improvements to Shell’s manufacture of ethylene glycol.
Fig. 3: Lifecycle of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and market prices of chemicals and polymers.
Fig. 4: Economic viability of converting glucose to chemicals.

Change history

References

  1. Sheldon, R. A. Green Chem. 19, 18–43 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Anastas, P. & Warner, J. C. Green Chemistry: Theory and Practice 30 (Oxford Univ. Press, 1998); http://go.nature.com/3bcwqlv

  3. Anastas, P. T. & Zimmerman, J. B. Env. Sci. Technol. 37, 94A–101A (2003); http://go.nature.com/3b6zAag

  4. Lange, J.-P. Green Chem. 4, 546–550 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lange, J.-P. in Sustainable Development in the Process Industry: Cases and Impacts (eds Harmsen, J. & Powell, J. B.) Ch. 3 (Wiley, 2010).

  6. Lange, J.-P. ChemSusChem 2, 587–592 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Select Pathways (kg CO2e per mmBtu)1 (EPA, 2016); https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/documents/select-ghg-results-table-v1.pdf

  8. Seabra, J. E. A., Macedo, I. C., Chum, H. L., Faroni, C. E. & Sarto, C. A. Biofuel Bioprod. Biorefin. 5, 519–532 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Camara-Salim, I., Feijoo, G. & Moreira, M. T. in Transition Towards a Sustainable Biobased Economy (eds Morone, P. & Clark, J. H.) Ch. 2 (RSC, 2020).

  10. Hertwich, E. G. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 112, 6277–6282 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Keith, D. W., Holmes, G., St. Angelo, D. & Heidel, K. Joule 2, 1573–1594 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Schmidt, P. R., Zittel, W., Weindorf, W. & Raksha, T. Renewables in Transport 2050 (FVV, 2016).

  13. Parkinson, B., Balcombe, P., Speirs, J. F., Hawkes, A. D. & Hellgardt, K. Energy Environ. Sci. 12, 19–40 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Martens, J. A. et al. ChemSusChem 10, 1039–1055 (2016).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Hermann, B. G., Blok, K. & Patel, M. K. Environ. Sci. Technol. 41, 7915–7921 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Jonker, J. G. G. et al. Biofuels Bioprod. Biorefin. 13, 950–977 (2019).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Slade, R., Bauen, A. & Gross, R. Nat. Clim. Chang. 4, 99–105 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Straathof, A. J. J. & Bampouli, A. Biofuels Bioprod. Biorefin. 11, 798–810 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Zheng, J. & Suh, S. Nat. Clim. Chang. 9, 374–378 (2019).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lange, J.-P. Catal. Sci. Technol. 6, 4759–4767 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Dusselier, M., Mascal, M. & Sels, B. F. Selective Catalysis for Renewable Feedstocks and Chemicals (ed. Nicholas, K. M.) Ch. 1 (Springer, 2014).

  22. Armor, J. Catal. Today 178, 8–11 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Lange, J.-P. CatTech 5, 82–95 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Lange, J.-P. ChemSusChem 10, 245–252 (2017).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Pramod, V. C., Fauziah, R., Seshan, K. & Lange, J.-P. Catal. Sci. Technol. 8, 289–296 (2018).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Fox, J. M. III Catal. Rev.-Sci. Eng. 35, 169–212 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Lange, J.-P., de Jong, K. P., Ansorge, J. & Tijm, P. J. A. Stud. Surface Sci. Catal. 107, 81–86 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Lange, J.-P., Sushkevich, V. L., Knorpp, A. J. & van Bokhoven, J. A. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 58, 8674–8680 (2019).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Butt, J. B. & Petersen, E. E. Activation, Deactivation and Poisoning of Catalysts (Academic Press, 1988).

  30. Lange, J.-P. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 54, 13186–13197 (2015).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Moulijn, J. A., Makkee, M. & van Diepen, A. E. Chemical Process Technology (Wiley, 2001).

  32. Chlor-Alkali Electrolysis (Thyssenkrupp, last accessed 23 October 2020); https://go.nature.com/2ZsmxdO

  33. Championing Science https://championingscience.com/2019/03/15/everything-should-be-made-as-simple-as-possible-but-no-simpler/ (2019).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shell Global Solutions International B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Jean-Paul Lange

Authors
  1. Jean-Paul Lange
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jean-Paul Lange.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Catalysis thanks Piedomenico Biasi and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lange, JP. Performance metrics for sustainable catalysis in industry. Nat Catal 4, 186–192 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-021-00585-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-021-00585-2

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing