Chemical Industry

Abstract

At the early twenty-first century, the chemical industry is facing a type of “climate change” regarding chemical resources. The shale gas revolution in North America and coal chemistry in China are becoming threats to conventional naphtha-based chemical processes. The lower production cost of chemicals derived from light alkanes, such as methane, ethane, and propane, especially abundant in wet shale gas, and chemicals derived from coal will make it difficult for naphtha-based chemical processes to be sustained, especially in East Asia and Japan. As a result, the chemical industry in Japan is focusing on value-added chemicals to maintain profit, and this trend will accelerate.

Because greater CO₂ emissions from conventional fossil resource, chemistry will exacerbate environmental climate change. Innovations in the chemical industry should be achieved by the concept of green sustainable chemistry (GSC) to realize both lower production cost and less CO₂ emission.