Interview with Javier García Martínez, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Alicante and President-elect of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)
What role can chemistry play in the fight against climate change?
The origin of climate change lies in the greenhouse gas emissions that human beings produce, including CO2 and methane. Chemistry has the ability to find alternatives that on the one hand, do not generate as much greenhouse gas, and on the other, use this waste, such as CO2 or methane, to create a new economy, thus converting what is currently a problem of raw materials.
In recent years, we have seen fascinating discoveries in chemistry that make it possible to transform CO2 into fuel with just water and sunlight, for example, or to transform CO2 into molecules with a high added value. These new discoveries allow us to dream of circular chemistry in which CO2 is integrated into cycles that are neutral from a climate change perspective.
What is circular chemistry and how does it relate to the circular economy?
In order to make the circular economy possible, we have to be capable of recovering and reusing everything we produce. In order for this to be possible, we need new chemistry, new forms of production. Circular chemistry is precisely this – a paradigm shift: going from linear industry that extracts resources from the planet and transforms them into products with a high added value that are then sold, to a new chemistry in which sustainability is there from the beginning; chemistry in which molecules and processes are conceived and designed so that everything that is produced is easy to recover and reuse.
For example, in general, plastics are not currently conceived to be reused. Their structure does not contain any points that allow us to decompose them to recover the components and reproduce them. In recent years, we have seen truly spectacular advances in which a new generation of plastic has been designed whose structure contains breaking points so that once they have been used, they can be reassembled and recovered indefinitely. Today, what we do is simply recycle, giving new life to products that have not been conceived for reuse.
Therefore, circular chemistry is a new way of understanding our relationship with the planet, a new way of designing molecules and processes so that everything we produce is designed to be reused.
Therefore, there is no circular economy without circular chemistry, without design on a molecular scale of everything we produce so that its reuse and recovery is as simple as possible. That is the priority: that they are designed and conceived for sustainability from the beginning. This implies a paradigm shift, a new way of thinking and of teaching chemistry. This way, we will make the dream of turning the industry of transformation into the industry of reuse possible.
Do you think that industries and companies understand this new paradigm?
To continue producing the way we have so far is not an alternative. Production that is not conceived for reuse has brought us to the current situation, in which we not only suffer from climate change, but also an actual tsunami of single-use plastics. For companies, changing to a circular model is not only profitable, but also inexcusable because in the long-term, raw materials and the consequences of continuing to produce in a linear manner will make the entire system unsustainable.
Regulation can help to ensure this transition occurs. For example, the ban on the sale of single-use plastics in the European Union is forcing companies to innovate. The Spanish chemical industry is precisely the industrial sector that invests the most in innovation. It also generates 700,000 direct and indirect jobs, with an average salary of €38,000 and 93 percent open-ended contracts. Where there is more resistance is when it comes to investing in CAPEX to convert factories and processes in order to be able to produce differently. This is primarily due to high interest rates and the uncertainty in the market.
Profitability can be conceived from two perspectives. In the short-term, it is to continue producing in a way that is geared toward margins for the coming years. Another is to consider the sustainability of the business, relations with consumers and with the planet over the long-term.
The companies that invest in sustainability will be more profitable because they are going to have a larger market of consumers, who are increasingly more aware. We are noting that the general public, and especially youth, are demanding that these changes are implemented as soon as possible. However, the urgency is not on the table clearly enough.
You preside over the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). What are its main lines of research underway related to the fight against climate change?
The IUPAC currently finances over 180 international projects in all branches of chemistry, some of which are very much focused on climate change and sustainability. I would like to point to an enormous project we are carrying out with other international organizations on a problem that we hear little about, but which is very important: electronic waste, or e-waste.
E-waste ia a huge problem because we are generating a lot of waste due to our use and abuse of electronic parts. Unlike other products, electronic parts are highly complex and practically unrecyclable. They contain a lot of chemical elements, some of which are very scarce, and are not designed to be recycled, which creates a severe problem.
In terms of climate change, we are addressing it from many perspectives. First, on an educational level. The IUPAC creates a lot of educational resources, beyond the chemical nomenclature and the periodic table. We currently have a large project underway on systemic thought to relate chemical concepts to their impact on the environment and humans’ role in climate change. We want to incorporate sustainability into the way chemistry is taught from the beginning so that the new generation of chemistry professionals is aware and has the knowledge and skills they need to develop the circular chemistry I spoke about earlier.
In addition, we finance numerous research projects. Among the most interesting results I would like to highlight those related to the transformation of CO2 into high added value molecules, CO2 photoconversion molecules (directly converting CO2 with sunlight, either photovoltaic or solar thermal) and the electroconversion of CO2. In addition, thanks to the use of green hydrogen, we are going to see the possibility of hydrogenating CO2 and turning it into all kinds of clean fuels that do not require fossil sources.
Another major project we are working on is to create new chemistry nomenclature – not for humans, but for machines so that artificial intelligence, machine learning becomes a reality in chemistry. To do so, computers must be capable of recognizing the molecules we describe in the millions of scientific articles that are available. The problem is that they don’t understand because chemistry nomenclature was designed for humans, not computers. For this reason, we have created a new language called International Chemical Identifier, InChI, a code designed specifically for machines so that artificial intelligence becomes a reality in chemistry and helps us to accelerate scientific discovery, especially in the sustainability field.
I would like to call attention to very recent research published this year in the journal Nature in which machines used artificial intelligence to identify synthetic routes to transform waste from the chemical industry into pharmaceutical compounds with a high added value. These synthetic routes are so effective that the authors of this research are testing them on a pre-commercial scale. In the coming years it is very likely that we will see chemical products whose manufacturing was at least partially designed by computers.
Artificial intelligence will also have a fundamental role in scientific discovery. Also in chemistry. Thus, we have to create not only a new language specifically for machines, but also standards when it comes to managing, communicating and sharing digital chemical information.
From the presidency of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, I can have an influence on the agenda of chemistry worldwide thanks to agreements with international organizations, and the IUPAC’s financing capacities.
What steps should be taken to stop climate change?
First, we need deadlines. The urgency should be a fundamental aspect when it comes to decision-making. We don’t have time to waste.
Just as deadlines were moved up during the pandemic and all necessary resources were allocated, climate change needs this component of urgency.
Second, all actors need to be at the same table. We have to ensure that the solutions that scientists have reach the actors that have to implement them, such as the chemical or energy sectors, as well as those that have to finance them, the banks, and those that have to regulate them, the politicians. This is not what is currently taking place.
Third, science will give us the solutions, but it won’t solve the problems for us. In order for these solutions to resolve the problem of climate change, political will is needed – not only from those in charge, but from all of us, the citizens and consumers. We can’t expect science to solve our problems. Instead, we must solve the problems all together.
Fourth, and perhaps the most difficult to achieve is to have actual international cooperation in the fight against climate change. I am more pessimistic when it comes to this. The countries that have the financial capacity and technologies to decarbonize our economy have to share resources with countries that do not have them, as they need these resources to stop climate change. It is an issue of climate justice, but also an issue of intelligence. It is in all of our interests to adopt the technologies to produce energy in a more sustainable manner, and for that, financing is needed. Technologies and best practices must be shared. It is in everyone’s interest.
Without international cooperation, there is no hope. On the one hand, it is an exercise of solidarity and generosity from those who have the means for those who do not. And on the other, binding commitments with well defined deadlines are needed. And of course, there must be a price on externality. The environmental cost of CO2 emissions should be included in the price of products, and of course, polluting technologies should not be subsidized.
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