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Sustainable technology

Green chemistry

Modern life depends on the petrochemical industry — most drugs, paints and plastics derive from oil. But current processes for making chemical products are not sustainable in terms of resources and environmental impact. Green chemistry aims to tackle this problem, and real progress is being made.

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Figure 1: The principles of green chemistry.

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Poliakoff, M., Licence, P. Green chemistry. Nature 450, 810–812 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/450810a

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