Tom Graedel
Washington State University

When Tom Graedel was an undergraduate at Washington State University, a faculty member told him that chemical engineering graduates could do anything.

“That seems to be as good a description of any of what I’ve been doing,’’ he says.

Graedel's research career has been widely varied and interesting, including research in solar physics, chemical kinetic modeling of gases and droplets in the Earth's atmosphere, corrosion of materials by atmospheric species, atmospheric change, and industrial ecology and sustainability science. He has authored 13 books and more than 300 technical papers. Long before climate change and sustainability were part of the American consciousness, Graedal was conducting pioneering research in the field.

He is thought to be the first professor of industrial ecology in the world. He teaches at Yale University.

“I think a background in engineering, in general, and chemical engineering, in particular, provides a combination of knowledge and scholarship, but at the same time, the application of that knowledge and scholarship to real world problems,’’ he says.  “I think it’s been a good foundation for reaching out in directions that seem to be interesting and useful.’’

A native of Portland, Oregon, Graedel grew up in Dalles, Oregon, and then Spokane, Washington. Graedel credits a high school teacher at North Central High School in Spokane with getting him interested in chemistry. He consequently majored in chemical engineering, graduating from Washington State University with a B.S. in1960. After graduation, he went on to receive a master’s degree in physics from Kent State University, and a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Michigan in 1969. He went to work for AT&T Bell Laboratories in New Jersey as a member of the technical staff. He joined the faculty at Yale in 1997.

It was during his time at Bell Laboratories that he first became interested in industrial ecology. Initially, several researchers were trying to ensure that the Bell system was meeting environmental regulations. Later, the researchers realized that as an industry that used energy and materials, there might not be specific regulations, but “we thought we could do better in those areas,’’ Graedel recalls.

In the early 1990’s, Graedel and a few colleagues began working to develop the field of industrial ecology. Other industry leaders were also interested in this important work. Graedel and his colleague, Brad Allenby, soon realized that a text was needed, leading to the publication in 1995 of Industrial Ecology. Its third edition is currently in preparation.

In this text, the researchers carefully considered how materials and energy are used, what gets re-used, and what gets lost. Further, they go on to consider approaches to the industrial product and process design that minimize these impacts and promote recycling and re-use. In particular, Graedel developed a simple matrix that improved the existing methods of life-cycle analysis.

Their work has become standard practice in industry. Its practical application is that Graedel can often sit down with a product design team, walk through a factory, and fill out their matrix in about a day. A number of companies have adopted the framework or something very similar to it for evaluating their product designs. The matrix clearly identifies areas which can be improved. Companies are often interested in the improvements. If they’re done right, most save the company money, in terms of re-using material, spending less on disposal, and avoiding litigation on potential environmental problems, he says.

For his contributions to environmental sciences and “the new discipline of industrial ecology,’’ he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1998. For his pioneering research and outstanding contributions to the engineering theory and practice of industrial ecology, he was named a member of the prestigious National Academy of Engineering in 2002.

Recently, Graedel has become interested in the long term sustainability of resources, particularly metals.  Almost everything we do technologically depends on having a very diverse supply of metal available, Graedel states. Creating more efficient products, for instance, often requires alloys -- usually made of rather scarce elements -- that can function at high temperatures.

“Every time we think about resource sustainability in detail, we trip over the fact that we don’t know enough about uses and losses across the full periodic table. It’s an issue that hasn’t been appreciated."  

In another area of research, Graedel did pioneering work in atmospheric climate change.

In particular, he and colleagues at Bell Labs were the first to warn of urban methane and carbon monoxide increases in the late 1970’s.  Both gases are now understood to be significant contributors to global warming. Along with Nobel Laureate atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen, Graedel wrote Atmosphere, Climate, and Change, published in 1994. The authors received the American Meteorological Society’s Louis J. Battan Author’s Award for their work in 1995.  

Graedel remains concerned about the state of the climate, reporting that, as he was being interviewed, temperatures were more than 80 degrees on the October day in Connecticut. “I think it’s consistent with the fact that we need to be thinking hard about the whole topic,’’ he said.

At the same time, he added: “I’m cautiously optimistic. I think these issues are now much more in the news and much more in the thinking of people and their leaders. Some countries and many industries are making real commitments to changing their practices. There is a potential for us to respond to this challenge. It’s a big challenge, and it will require a big response. We’ll have to see if we’re up to that.’’