AIChE Credential for Sustainability Professionals The AIChE Institute for Sustainability (IfS) is launching a program that offers engineers and other qualified professionals a specialized Credential in sustainability. The IfS is well positioned to establish a baseline definition of what Sustainability entails, as well as to establish a Body of Knowledge (BOK) in the field of sustainability.
Institute for Sustainability (IfS) IfS is an umbrella organization encompassing a broad spectrum of activities related to sustainability. It has three sub-entities: the Sustainable Engineering Forum (SEF), the Center for Sustainable Technology Practices (CSTP), and the Youth Council on Sustainability Science and Technology (YCOSST). It also provides oversight to the AIChE Sustainability Index (sm).
Environmental Division (ENV) The ENV division provides relevant programs on current environmental topics and non-confidential information concerning all aspects of environmental activity. The division promotes publication of papers of interest to chemical engineers in environmental activities as well as coordinates the Institute’s activities with other related societies.
YCOSST Focus on Sustainability Professionals: Deborah Grubbe March 25, 2013AIChE’s Youth Council for Sustainable Science and Technology (YCOSST), chaired by Jeff Seay and Sarah Widder, is part of the AIChE Institute for Sustainability. The goal is for...
Molten Salt Gives Concentrated Solar a Unique Advantage October 25, 2013Solana Station, constructed with six hours of molten storage that allows it to produce energy into the evening, shows off CSP's advantage over solar modules.
Stealth Energy Boom Sets Another Texas Power Record April 24, 2014On a day late last month, winds energy set a record as output reached 10,296 MW. That day wind provided nearly 29% of the 35,768 MW of electricity flowing on the Texas grid.
Engineering Students Develop Nano-Filter for Industrial Water Treatment December 26, 2014Students in the Department of Materials Science at Sweden's Luleå University of Technology have developed a new bio-based water filtration system that will be tested in an...
World's Largest Steelmaker to Use LanzaTech's Gas-to-Biofuel Microbe July 30, 2015ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steel company, joined by LanzaTech, the world's leading waste-gas-to-biofuels developer, and Primetals Technologies, a seasoned steel plant...
General Motors' Private War on Coal December 28, 2015Several years ago, General Motors made a deal to turn Detroit municipal waste into steam, which helped to power one of its local plants in 2014. But that's just one facet of GM's...
April 2016 CEP Preview April 7, 2016This month, tips for including water conservation in your energy-management program, an introduction to mammalian cell culture, pointers for preventing caking of bulk solids, and...
ICOSSE 2011: Columbia University’s Huiming Yin Discusses His Research About the Design Efficiency of Solar Roofing Panels January 31, 2011Huiming Yin is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University . He discussed his research "Design Efficiency Prediction of a...
Dandelions May Provide Synthetic Rubber to Automotive Industry May 17, 2011Chemical engineers and others pay a great deal of attention to the fuel that propels cars, as they work towards smaller carbon footprints and greater sustainability, but what...
Interviews with Leading Engineers: Q&A with Christianto Wibowo on Energy Consumption September 22, 2011With the rising cost of energy and increased government oversight of greenhouse gas emissions, reducing energy consumption is a key topic for chemical engineers. Christianto...
Study Quantifies Fracking's National Employment Potential December 6, 2011The boom in natural gas production in the U.S. may provide nearly 900,000 jobs and an addition of $1,000 to household budgets by 2015, according to a study just released by IHS...
Oil Spill-Cleaning Sailing Robot Technology Is Open Sourced by Inventor Cesar Harada July 12, 2012Cesar Harada was so moved by the BP Oil Spill that he quit his dream job, moved to New Orleans, and developed a flexible and highly maneuverable sailing boat that can clean large...
2012 AIChE Gala—Celebrating 50 Years of Engineering a Sustainable Future [Photos] December 3, 2012On Wednesday, November 28, more than 260 chemical engineers and related professionals gathered at The Plaza Hotel for the 2012 AIChE Gala. See photos from this magical evening.
Building a Biofuel Game-Changer December 27, 2013Dr Sean Simpson, founder of LanzaTech, tells about an entrepreneurial wild ride, from his first idea to his deal to make jet fuel for Virgin Atlantic Airways.
AIChE Apprentice Takes on Potable Water Challenge July 14, 2014Alex Avram, a chemical engineering PhD student at UARK who recently joined the three-year AIChE Apprenticeship Program, describes his plans to help communities gain access to...
Recycled Packing Peanuts Become Battery Components March 24, 2015Researchers at Perdue University have demonstrated that it’s possible to convert waste packing peanuts into high-performance carbon electrodes for rechargeable lithium-ion...
Second LNG-Powered Container Ship Launch Signals New Regulatory Clampdown October 20, 2015When TOTE, a shipper that plies the waters between the US and the Caribbean, recently launched a 760-foot container ship from its construction drydock in San Diego, it carried a...
King of Morocco Plans to Export Solar Power to Europe February 19, 2016Two weeks ago, when the King of Morocco ceremonially switched on the Noor I concentrated solar plant (CSP), he was hoping to turn his country into a renewable energy powerhouse...
New Method Turns Plastic into Liquid Fuel June 23, 2016A more environmentally friendly recycling method for polyethylene not only eliminates waste but also provides liquid fuel.
Viatimin B2 Inspires Flow Battery Discovery July 26, 2016Inspired by vitamin B2, researchers at Harvard have discovered a entire new class of high-performing organic molecules that can be used in flow batteries to store electricity from...
Earth Day at the College of Engineering April 21, 2010Undergrads, graduate students, and faculty at the Iowa State University College of Engineering talk about sustainability research and practices taking place year round within the...
Volunteers Teach Science of Urban Gardens December 1, 2010Community outreach and volunteer programs can benefit volunteers as much as the intended recipients of these programs. One chemical engineer shares his recent experience of...
Anaerobic Treatment of High-Strength Effluents in Food, Beverage, and Agriculture [On Location] March 20, 2011Carlos Claros of MWH Americas presented a succinct summary of the benefits of anaerobic treatment for high strength COD/BOD (organic) loaded wastewater streams. In industry, about...
Developing Countries, Led by China, Surpass US and Europe in Renewable Energy Investments July 14, 2011Last year, global investors pumped a record $211 billion into green energy as the world continued to rebound economically from the receding financial crisis, which was one-third...
First World Congress on Sustainable Engineering Convenes October 21, 2011AIChE's 2011 Annual Meeting marks the first year for the World Congress on Sustainable Engineering Plenary . The World Congress served as the official introduction to sessions...
Composite Materials from Natural Coconut Fibers April 16, 2012During the poster session at the Spring Meeting in Houston, we spoke with Ryan Vano of Natural Composites Inc. He shared with us his company's work with coconut fibers and the...
AIChE’s Path to Sustainability September 13, 2012AIChE is working towards sustainability on multiple fronts. It has formed the International Society for Water Solutions (ISWS) and the Association's Institute for Sustainability (...
The Chemistry of Chocolate and Roses February 14, 2013Giving or receiving chocolates or roses? Then maybe it's time to catch up on some Valentine's Day chemistry!
ICOSSE III: Water-Innovative Technology, Manufacturing, and Energy September 27, 2013Didn't catch ICOSSE this summer? Read one chemical engineer's account of it, and his thoughts on the topics covered.
World Café: Energy Water Food Nexus at the 2014 Annual Meeting November 13, 2014The World Café will focus on the global grand challenge of energy, water and food. The session aims to build awareness of the challenge and highlight the roles chemical...
United Airlines Moves Trash-to-Jet-Fuel Closer to Reality July 7, 2015Fulcrum Bioenergy's Sierra BioFuels Plant is due to start construction on the outskirts of Reno — in the same industrial park as Tesla’s Giga-factory. Once it's finally finished,...
CNG Cars May Soon Have a Smart New Alternative December 8, 2015Jeffery Long, professor of chemistry and chemical and bimolecular engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and colleagues have devised a space-efficient natural-gas...
The Global Coal Death-Spiral Picks Up Speed March 30, 2016Last year the world began to decisively shift away from using coal to produce electricity. This reached a symbolic climax last week when Scotland shut down its last coal-fired...
Pollution Hotspot London Uses Electric Buses to Fight Smog September 16, 2016London's new mayor Sadiq Khan just put fifty electric buses on the streets to help shrink a toxic cloud blighting one of Europe's most magisterial cities. Although there are...
Solargen's Panoche Valley, CA Solar Energy Farm and Its Tradeoffs August 18, 2010Panoche Valley is the San Joaquin Valley site for a new solar energy farm, a project undertaken by Solargen Energy . But despite their attempt toward helping to build a renewable...
AIChE Announces New Water Initiative January 17, 2011Pressing issues regarding water supplies and sustainability have motivated AIChE to develop the AIChE Water Initiative. The ultimate goal of the Water Initiative is to determine...
EPA P3 Student Competition: Clean Power, Clean Energy April 26, 2011University of California, Riverside, students won the EPA P3 Student Choice award at the annual P3 student competition in Washington, D.C. Their project, "Clean, Renewable, Grid-...
Water: Industrial Discharge Permits September 6, 2011Environmental management groups are cracking down on industries by imposing tighter discharge limits and making industries everywhere contemplate in-house pretreatment programs—...
Forward Osmosis Pilot Plant for Seawater Desalination November 7, 2011Forward osmosis offsets some of the high costs of reverse osmosis, but large-scale systems necessarily introduce one or more additional unit ops to recover the extracted water...
Dow Leader Encourages Engineers' Involvement in Government Policy Making at Mid-Michigan AIChE Meeting June 4, 2012Speaking at AIChE's Mid-Michigan Section's Spring Banquet, Rich Wells of Dow urged engineers to get involved in the political process. He said that engineers, being innovative,...
Offshore Floating Wind Power Delivering Power to 1,300 Homes November 7, 2012So far, US offshore wind projects have faced fierce objections from coastal residents. Cape Wind on Nantucket Sound is still waiting construction after surviving a decade of legal...
Tar Sands CO2 Emissions Could Feed Algae Biofuel May 23, 2013Canada is betting on carbon capture and storage (CCS) to reduce the environmental footprint associated with making fuel from oil sands, but one of the country's largest oil-sands...
Novel Membranes for the Battlefield [On Location] December 2, 2013The development of new "mixed-matrix membrane" systems can benefit our soldiers on the chemical warfare battlefield.
Should Greenhouse Gasses Be "Petrified" in Rock? June 18, 2014Among the many scenarios for capturing greenhouse gasses, one of the most novel is "petrifying" it in basalt formations. But is it practical?
Turned On: World’s Only Grid-Connected Wave Energy Array February 26, 2015Just weeks ago, Michael Ottaviano, managing director of Carnegie Wave Energy, flicked the switch to start Australia's first commercial-scale, grid-connected wave energy project...
Japan Installs World's Largest Offshore Wind Turbine September 25, 2015Weeks before Japan restarted the first nuclear reactor of the 48 that were shut down following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, a Marubeni-led consortium installed the world’s largest...
Norway’s Oslo Airport Now Offers Jet Biofuel to All Airlines January 27, 2016As the aviation industry begins to cobble together a global supply chain for jet biofuel, in Europe it all starts with Finland's Neste Oil, whose NEXBTL technology already...
China Goes Big for Concentrated Solar with 1,000 MW Order from SolarReserve May 17, 2016When SolarReserve CEO Kevin Smith points out the innovation that makes the Crescent Dunes concentrated solar power plant (CSP) so unique, he highlights the 12-hour storage...
Good News: Prius Sells 2 Million Vehicles, The Bad News... November 4, 2010The Good News: A recent Toyota press release celebrated a milestone: 2 million Prius hybrids have been sold world-wide since the brand was first launched in Japan 1997. It later...
Preventing the Membrane Problem Most Foul [On Location] March 15, 2011Dr. Benny Freeman of the University of Texas at Austin presented some promising results of his team’s efforts to coat membrane surfaces with materials that greatly reduce fouling...
AIChE New York Section's Amazing Tour of Croton Water Treatment Facility June 22, 2011On June 18th, 24 members and guests of the AIChE took a tour of the Croton Water Treatment Facility at Mosholu. The group included 6 student members representing NYU-Polytechnic,...
Take in a Session and then Some Sights...by Bike October 18, 2011Looking to get to know Minneapolis a little better while dodging between events? Take a walk through the Skyway, or grab a quick ride on one of the city's many public bikes.
Carbon Management Technology Conference January 13, 2012You still have time to register for the 2012 Carbon Management Technology Conference, held 7-9 February in Orlando, Florida, at the Caribe Royale Hotel and Convention Center...
Path to Sustainability: Thoughts from the Grand Canyon August 24, 2012In part one of a series on sustainability, CEP editor Cindy Mascone shares thoughts and observations about water resources and the environment that were inspired by a recent trip...
Growing Solar Vegetables in the Australian Outback January 18, 2013Using solar energy to grow food appears to be an emerging micro-trend. Check out what Australians are putting brackish water and sunlight to use in the Outback.
Frozen Ground Barrier to Stop Leaking at Fukushima September 4, 2013To contain contaminated water, Japanese officials have proposed a frozen barrier, which essentially creates permafrost conditions.
Will Solar-Powered Desalination Save California's Agriculture? February 7, 2014California-based WaterFX, a small startup, has brought a CSP-desalination facility online in Central California.
Testing Long-Term Energy Storage in New York August 19, 2014New York's transit system is using CellCube because it provides hours of long-duration power, setting it apart from the lithium-ion batteries of Solar City.
Drone Video of Tesla's New Giga-factory Goes Viral June 2, 2015It's been common knowledge that Tesla is building a huge lithium battery factory near Reno, Nevada. Topping out at 10 million square feet, once finished it will be one of the...
Retired Coal Plant Has Second Career as Lithium-ion Grid Storage November 25, 2015Duke Energy replaced its recently retired Beckjord coal-fired plant in New Richmond, Ohio, with a 2-MW lithium-ion grid-storage battery and joined companies like AES Energy...
Electric Cars, the Smart Grid and the Next Oil-Surplus Price Crash March 9, 2016It's always hard to predict the future, but that hasn't stopped Nissan from trying. In a new video, the company uses computer-generated imagery to transport the viewer into an...
Nuclear Needs Help Surviving Against Cheap Natural Gas and Renewables July 13, 2016Nuclear reactors have had long, productive lives. But recently, their life expectancy has plunged so fast — upending normal replacement cycles — that they're now considered...
Hawaii's Fossil-Fuel Reduction Signals Global Energy Trend August 25, 2016After Hawaii killed a deal that included a new LNG import facility and its conjoined twin, a natural gas power plant; and a leading Canadian tar sands producer, Suncor Energy,...
Significant Gulf Technical Challenges. What Can Chemical Engineers Do? June 29, 2010I've had the luxury of being able to follow some of the information coming out of the Gulf regarding the Deepwater Horizion disaster response. The response appears to be directed...
Deanna Miller Discusses Strategies for Carbon Dioxide Reduction at the E3 2010 Conference December 31, 2010Deanna Miller is a graduate student studying chemistry at the the University of Minnesota . She attended the E3 2010 Conference in St. Paul, MN , and presented her work on...
The New Cola Wars: Coke and Pepsi Battle to Bring 100% Plant-Based Bottles to Customers April 20, 2011I thought that the Coke and Pepsi wars, which began in the 70's (click to see a vintage, Michael Jackson, Pepsi TV ad), were long over, comfortably settled into a tit-for-tat,...
Chesapeake Energy Invests in Former Stealth Solar/Biofuels Startup August 11, 2011In mid-July, Chesapeake Energy, the second-largest producer of natural gas in the U.S. launched a $1 billion venture fund to invest in technologies designed to spur demand while...
Life-Cycle Assessment Comparison of Ultraviolet and Chemical Disinfection October 31, 2011The equipment and capital scope of an ultraviolet (UV) disinfection systems seems so much more substantial than a simple chemical feed and contact arrangement. If a Life-Cycle...
OriginOil's Technology Removes 98% of Hydrocarbons in Fracking Water May 14, 2012Earlier this month oil man Riggs Eckelberry was not to be found at the Houston Offshore Technology Conference. Why? He had fracking on his mind, and more precisely, a technology...
Solar-Powered Enhanced Oil Recovery Saves Natural Gas October 16, 2012GlassPoint, a small startup, makes steam for enhanced oil recovery more cheaply by using the sun, particularly in overseas markets with higher gas prices.
Nanowire Could Redefine Solar Panel Efficiency March 28, 2013Reported this week: researchers in Denmark and Switzerland have built solar cells from individual nanowires. Their work showed that the nanowires were able to absorb considerably...
Predictive Tools Foster Sustainability [On Location] November 6, 2013John Leazer discussed several key ways in which the EPA is working to promote and assist industry in their ongoing sustainability efforts. Of special significance are some...
Purdue University wins YCOSST P3 Award May 8, 2014Purdue's Biowall entry took home the prize, with an ingenious design that improves indoor air quality thanks, in part, to plants' ability to purify air.
Cheap Asphalt Derivative Highly Effective for Carbon Capture January 9, 2015Researchers at Rice University have discovered an inexpensive derivative of asphalt that is highly effective at capturing carbon dioxide from natural gas wells.
US Wind Energy Industry Develops around Block Island Turbines August 4, 2015Europe has already built a thriving offshore wind industry, so it's an understatement to say that the US has a lot of catching up to do. Nonetheless, after seven years of...
The Global Spread of Advanced Fracking Technology Is Winning the Oil War January 5, 2016In November 2014, OPEC and Saudi Arabia started a price war against the US shale industry (and other high-end producers) by refusing to rein in output and fighting for market...
IEA Says Global CO2 Emissions Have Decoupled from Economic Growth April 19, 2016As we watch coal get kicked to the curb, particularly in developed countries, the International Energy Agency thinks it's time for a paradigm-check. Throughout the 20th century,...
World's Largest Wind Farm Begins Operation September 27, 2010Thanet's turbines While Cape Wind , the nation's only planned off-shore wind farm , struggles to start construction, Thanet Wind Farm , located seven miles off the blustery coast...
ICOSSE 2011: Yosef Manik of the University of Maine Assesses the Sustainability of Bio-product Supply Chains February 2, 2011Yosef Manik is a Fulbright Ph.D. student from Indonesia whose primary area of study is forest resources. He assisted Anthony Halog in researching frameworks and models for...
Toilet to Tap: The Future of Water June 2, 2011Singapore used to depend heavily on Malaysia for treated water, but now it uses state-of-the-art technology to recycle sewage and other wastewater, producing water that is claimed...