Petrochemistry and Society: Challenges and Solutions

In the late 1800s, Population Theory predicted population perishing due to food shortage, urging chemists to develop ammonia synthesis, impacting civilization and climate crisis.

### The Past, Present, and Future of Chemistry: From Haber-Bosch Process to CCUS
* 🌍  In the late 1800s, it was predicted that the population would perish if the growth outpaced food production, and a chemist stated that the only solution was through chemistry. The Haber-Bosch process, developed in the early 1900s, played a crucial role in **synthesizing ammonia by combining nitrogen and hydrogen under high pressure and temperature conditions**.
* ⚗️  The Haber-Bosch process, which currently accounts for about **1% of global energy consumption** and **1.4% of CO2 emissions**, enabled the mass production of fertilizers and significantly contributed to the **Green Revolution**. However, due to its energy-intensive nature, there are ongoing efforts to develop more **sustainable and lower-pressure methods** for ammonia synthesis.
* 🌱  Leguminous plants have the ability to fix nitrogen through symbiotic relationships with root bacteria, and by planting these nitrogen-fixing crops, farmers can **improve soil fertility and crop yields**. The discovery of the Haber-Bosch process and the widespread use of synthetic fertilizers have greatly **increased food production and supported the growing global population**.
* 💡  Chemists play a crucial role in conducting experiments, making discoveries, and developing new technologies. Fritz Haber's relentless experimentation and Alwin Mittasch's efforts to find suitable catalysts for the commercialization of the process exemplify the **importance of experimental chemistry**.
* 🛢️  Since the discovery of petroleum in the 19th century, it has become a major source of energy and raw materials for various industries. However, the widespread use of petroleum-based products, such as plastics and synthetic fibers, has led to **environmental pollution and resource depletion**.
* 🌡️  The increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels have led to **global warming and climate change**. The Paris Agreement aims to limit the global temperature increase to **well below 2 degrees Celsius** and pursue efforts to limit it to **1.5 degrees Celsius**.
* 🔄  Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technologies, which capture CO2 emissions from power plants and industrial processes and either **store them underground or convert them into useful products**, are considered crucial for **reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change**.
* 🌏  As the world faces the urgent challenge of transitioning to a low-carbon economy and reducing its reliance on fossil fuels, it is essential for countries and industries to **work together to develop sustainable technologies and practices**.

So, in the late 1800s, in a book called The Principle of Population, it was predicted that the population would perish due to the rapid growth of population outpacing food production. Another scientist said, The only way to solve this is through chemistry. We have plenty of time to greet each other. It may be slow, but it's a cool and fun meeting. Nice to meet you, professors. Finally, the salvation of food begins now. You are truly amazing. With just two minutes, you could probably do an hour's worth of work. If we delve into your personal lives, and even with just two minutes, we could uncover everything, even down to an unfinished line in a book. Some authors really had issues with humanity. So now, the title attached to this person, along with best, also had worst attached. In history, one of the most famous chemists did something like this.

Now, by attaching nitrogen-fixing bacteria, we create something called a biofilm. Previously, as chemistry developed, we knew that plants need ammonia and nitrogen components to grow well. However, we didn't know exactly how to do that. Next, when we brought plants growing in South America and grew them together, they looked similar to Hokkai, suddenly they exploded. What was I talking about? Nitrogen. Even if plants grow well when brought, have you heard of root bacteria? Leguminous plants fix nitrogen. Humans do it the hard way, but the Earth has been assigning this to someone else since ancient times. Plants like beans, so now when we farm, we plant beans once, like this. If you plant beans, beans grow, not just beans.

Now, they make nitrogen and sprinkle it on the ground, like this, and then the child uses it well and says, Oh, these useful plants. Actually, because of that, problems arise. Because when they bring crops like that and plant them together, the yield increases. But at that time, it was an unknown world. Potatoes died because of bacteria brought from there, causing famine, like the Irish Potato Famine. They saw those impacts. So, in the late 1800s, in a book called Population Theory, it was predicted that if the population growth outpaces food production, the population will perish. That's how they predicted. Another chemist said, There is no solution other than chemistry. Even at that time, they talked about such things. But actually, so many chemists were synthesizing ammonia.

Jumping was actually not easy, but now, this person discovered things where a catalyst is used in a high-temperature and high-pressure reaction to actually produce ammonia. So, if you look down to the left now, in the early 1900s, this was created, developed, commercialized, and then the population increased rapidly. Of course, it's not all because of this, there are other factors like coal and oil, but this happened, and eventually, the driving force that allowed us to make these things, hydrogen, where did it come from? It came from petroleum. So, from the front, from petroleum, we provide our homes, transportation, and various power sources, and at the same time provide food, and this food is also linked. So, since the discovery of petroleum in the 1800s, I would say civilization has made tremendous progress, and nitrogen is drawn like this, but in reality, nitrogen is connected with three arms.

Now, it's really hard to separate them, so the nitrogen, which accounts for 70% of the atmosphere on Earth, doesn't do anything. When you breathe, you inhale 70% nitrogen, but nitrogen just passes through without doing anything. They come and go because they are so happy sticking together. When two of them stick together, to make ammonia out of them, they need to be separated. To separate them, a tremendous external stimulus is needed, right? Yes, that's why a tremendous high temperature is needed. However, the problem is, if you look here, I'll count the numbers. On the left, there is one piece of nitrogen, then there are three hydrogen atoms (H2). On this side, there are four atoms because there are two molecules. But after the reaction, it changes to two molecules. And in this process, to split the nitrogen, high temperature is required. When the reaction occurs, heat is generated, so heat is applied.

As the temperature continues to rise due to the reaction, will it keep going towards the side where heat is being generated? It won't go there. Because it's hot, it won't go there, right? It won't go. So, if you say not to go, it's difficult. When you split N2, you have to give heat, but if you give heat, the reaction won't happen. Then, there's a principle called the Le Chatelier's principle, which is now in the textbook. It's too difficult, right? Yes. When something from the outside stimulates a stable state, it tries to change back to a stable state in response to that stimulus. Even though you are already happy, you want to become even happier, so when something from the outside makes you unhappy, you try to do things like that. Now, going back to what I mentioned earlier, there is a condition for happiness. What is it? If four people live here, but if you go this way, only two will live. Your family lived in a 27-square-meter apartment, and...

If you go this way, only two families will live here. Anyone will leave, so what's needed is pressure. Oh, if you create conditions where nitrogen and hydrogen on the left cannot live, they will die from the heat. They will naturally leave. Then, with a tremendous pressure of 200 atmospheres, pressure is applied here to make it heavy until they don't want to leave. Even if you go straight, they won't go. By creating the worst situation, making it look like they prefer that situation, you can live here more spaciously. In the process of doing that, these materials on the top right here were actually what you've been using. Now, you apply high pressure to what you made of iron. But, as I mentioned earlier, the materials also came from oil, but how do you think they actually created 200 atmospheres? They did it manually with a bicycle pump.

The valves aren't closing. That's right. We used the power from petroleum earlier to do this, and then these are the actual commercialized ones on the bottom right. So, a large iron reactor was used, not the glassware you might think of for chemical reactions. Most reactions actually take place in iron reactors like these. They are continuing to display what was used back then on the right. But even though the Haber-Bosch process did play a significant role here, it wasn't done alone. In fact, the ammonia synthesis process is called the Haber-Bosch process. It involves combining nitrogen and hydrogen, but nitrogen is obtained from the air. So, there is an issue with separating nitrogen from the air. Also, hydrogen is not naturally available. How do you produce hydrogen when it's not naturally present? That's what is needed there.

The process of producing nitrogen and hydrogen has been developed by Bosch, and now the face is attached separately here. It is made in the front and then in the back. When you see the process, on the left side, although it is a bit small, CH4 methane reacts with water to produce hydrogen. Then, if you react those in the reactor once again, ultimately CO2 and hydrogen are produced. Since CO2 is produced in the process of producing hydrogen from methane, a much larger amount of CO2 is produced than hydrogen. However, because of this process, which will change the human food source significantly, a huge number of processes start running. So, as you can see, about 1.4% of the world's CO2 emissions are from just one Haber Bosch process that produces ammonia. It accounts for about 1% of energy production, and in many cases, even 2%. Speaking of the energy generated by humanity, about 2% is now being put into the process.

The process is still being used, right? I'm still using that process. Recently, how can we change the Haber-Bosch process to be a bit milder and at lower pressures? However, there are limitations logically because as I mentioned earlier, it's difficult to avoid and remove, so developing in a different way, like in electronics or in other ways, is necessary. The plant that was rescued earlier is here. If you look here, next to it, as I was originally saying, there are many key points of Fritz Haber. But today, my concept is that chemistry is love, it is our life. Instead, the person on the right, Mr. Alvin Mati, when I mentioned earlier that Mr. Haber used iron catalysts to create a reaction, in reality, iron catalysts are not used.

I used a catalyst called OS Alle. You may not be familiar with Snene OS; it's not common. So, when I tried to commercialize it, there was only about 100kg available, so it was difficult. Now, there was a person named Mati Shi, who was somewhat like your disciple. This person tried to change these catalysts for commercial processes about 10,000 times. So, Cami's chemistry is like trying endlessly. In other words, Cam is relentless, right? It's an infinite loop. Physics and things like that, you have to create laws and make predictions. It seems like something very smart people do, but chemistry is about experiments. You just need to have actual experience. You need to ask who has done a lot of actual experiments. For example, even if you conduct an experiment, if you don't separate and verify it, it's actually useless. So, there is an opportunity.

So, we give graduate students the opportunity to conduct experiments because if we don't give graduate students such opportunities, they won't have a chance to try experiments, and if they don't try experiments, they won't know. So, we provide opportunities. Among the things I have sent you, we have removed them. Now that the problem is solved, and the economy is growing, you probably want to spend it, right? Yes, you want to wear clothes. With synthetic fibers and plastics, a tremendous expansion of consumption is taking place. So, here, various products coming from petroleum were introduced. In fact, here, from the yellow naphtha, various raw materials for the plastics we use are created. So, recently, to what extent, well, we are about 70% water in our bodies, but recently, the belongings we have, probably above.

Most of the things that are available now are likely petroleum-based. Everything we wear is now made of petroleum-based materials. So, as a result, we have achieved abundance, and we have started consuming. The problem now is that production is too easy and too cheap. Because it's so cheap, we use these things in plastic containers. The interesting thing is that plastic doesn't decay. Even though it's meant for one-time use, it doesn't decay. It has durability. On the contrary, if you don't throw it away, you can keep using it. But people throw it away thinking it won't decay. That's what's happening now. So, the perception is that plastic is disposable. Unfortunately, it's not originally meant to be disposable. In the 1950s and 60s, it was the marketing of plastic companies in the United States. Using it once and then discarding it was considered cool in modern life.

No, it's modern life where you use it once and throw it away. It's much fancier and different from others based on the 1950s. How cool is my consumption lifestyle different from the past? As a result, about 70% of the plastics created by humanity are actually used once and then discarded. So, that means it's actually about environmental pollution. Here, if we go further, the conversation is endless. Not only that, but these ultimately come from petroleum. However, we have been able to extract stable carbon from the corpses of dinosaurs or other ancient creatures, use it as an energy source, as well as a raw material to make plastics. So, when we throw away these plastics, what should we do? We have to buy it again when we need to drink water next time. If we need to buy it again, we have to extract oil from the ground. So, we have to extract oil from the ground, which is stably there.

We keep extracting, and this extraction not only results in material things, but also in the process, when we use energy, CO2 is emitted. Therefore, the extravagant modern lifestyle of using things once and then discarding them, which we enjoyed for about 70 years, has led us to the point where we are starting to feel the climate crisis on the next page. I call it a climate crisis that longs to go back to the past, expressing the hope to return to the past. Briefly, after the discovery of oil, CO2 emissions made life incredibly abundant and cool. In reality, as I mentioned earlier, there was a temperature of 50 degrees in Mexico last year. In some places, temperatures of 50 to 60 degrees were recorded, and even in this area, there were places where it couldn't be measured. Also, our country, Korea, is also experiencing extremely hot weather, and the climate is strange.

These days, some people talk about the effects of solar winds, but now I have brought something that we can feel the most. The cumulative effect of food inflation due to monthly temperature rise affects our wallets. It's true, right? It damages crops, and when the price of crops goes up, we have to eat. Not only crops, but in fact, in the old days in Korea, when going to the East Sea, there were a lot of squid and pollack, but they are not caught anymore. Now, they either go up or go to the West Sea because the temperature is not right, so they go looking for them. As a result, the food we eat becomes scarce, naturally becoming more expensive. In reality, depending on the changes, even a 1-degree or 2-degree change in average temperature can alter crop supply. This directly affects inflation now.

It has an impact, this is real. Nature, April 24, Nature. So, what is it really now? Because of oil or coal? But it's really something artificially created by humans, right? So, let's take a look again. The population growth, on the left, now the blue people are similar. As you go up from the bottom, it has increased enormously. In the actual process, how much has the average temperature increased every 20 to 30 years? So, in reality, it went from fluctuating around 0.08% to 0.18%. Then 1.5 degrees. Next, the carbon dioxide was 290 ppm, but actually, when I was talking about something similar, it was 370 ppm about 10 years ago. The first digit has changed. Next, roughly around 400 ppm, and now it's around 417 ppm. It's rising up to this point. So, on the right, if you look, it's really about the population and then the CO2 emissions.

When we talk about it, the red line is the CO2 emissions. The red line represents the aging population, but in the end, the number of heads increases, we use more, and we throw away more, so it increases. Just by looking at this, in fact, there is almost no room for hope. In reality, it's been almost 10 years since 2015, and it doesn't seem like the situation is improving. What promise was made 10 years ago? The black line is currently increasing in CO2 emissions, and we were worried that if we leave it as it is, it will turn into the red line. So, what we agreed on at that time was, Let's not go towards the blue line, but let's reduce more than the red line so that we don't reach the red line. Now, we are talking about things like NDC, saying that Korea needs to reduce CO2 emissions, but in reality, it's not about reducing what we were emitting, but predicting that it will increase like that red line and preventing it from increasing.

We talked about reducing it. In reality, if we immediately keep this, the emissions decrease, and the temperature drops significantly. So, these are not situations where the temperature suddenly drops. Therefore, we discussed running things, but after these were discussed, there were no definite actions. Recently, we started to create clear additional actions. However, there is a crisis of climate change, and the United Nations no longer talks about global warming. They changed the expression to boiling. So, it was considered a serious situation, but now, as I mentioned earlier about wallets, to make you feel it, we are now approaching with a bigger wallet. In any case, after discussing these technologies, we then develop some challenging things in Europe, such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms, to reduce emissions.

You have to do well. This is about venomous. In Europe, things are expensive because they emit less carbon while making products. They can't use cheap oil. But if we just emit CO2 when making steel or things like that in Korea, it's cheap. If we make energy-intensive products that emit a lot of CO2 and export them, it's a loss for them. So, when crossing orders, crossing borders, they may impose tariffs or block them from entering. Our import perspective is that Korea is now a manufacturing country. In terms of industries, it is one of the top five industries in the world, like steel. This could really be a bomb for Korea. If you look here, in the middle, when it was about 4 degrees lower in the 1900s, even New York was trapped in ice.

Boston is trapped in ice. In fact, when it comes to ice ages, our country's winter weather should be at least 30 degrees colder for it to be considered an ice age. When the average temperature on Earth drops by about 4 degrees, it becomes an ice age. The difference isn't that big. Recently, when humanity really developed civilizations like Egypt and Rome in the past and now modern civilizations, they started from around 1 degree below the temperature at that time. On the right, you can see a slightly longer line next to it. Have you seen the middle line? Recently, the temperature fluctuated around that point, going back and forth. Humanity has been able to create civilizations quite happily from that point. But recently, as you can see, that upward spike that came out, that was what was set up earlier. It's the graph going up from the previous page. So, if you think about it, Oh, it was a bit colder back then. The temperature recorded in history was about 0.5 to 1 degree, in reality.

They say everyone is dead except for Mansman. It was about 4 degrees lower, so if you look at it, we are in a crisis more than you think. We cannot predict the future, so we know what happened when it was just 1 degree lower, but what will happen if it rises up to 3 degrees? Why do we care about just 1 degree difference? I hope you can feel the difference and that's why we prepared like this. So, in such a situation, what choices do we have to make? First of all, we need to reduce CO2 emissions somehow. But along with this, while we are enjoying this life comfortably, with the development of technology and AI through YouTube, how can we handle the situation? Will we willingly endure discomfort and reduce CO2 emissions, or will we continue like this? There are not many choices to make.

Now, on the left, are you going to choose the picture and then the next one for sustainable development? This is a very famous movie that appears in movies. Do you know the title of the movie by any chance? It's a movie I really like. It's The Day After Tomorrow. It's not Tomorrow as the original title. It's The Day After Tomorrow. So, because it's not happening tomorrow, we can shout Let's go! We might think that the day after tomorrow could really be like this. Because, as I mentioned earlier, if the temperature rises a few degrees, we can't predict what will happen. One of the very famous scenarios is that if the temperature rises, the ice melts, the ocean current stops, and then the temperature drops rapidly. If it drops about 4 degrees, this situation will occur. The 4 degrees I showed earlier in the movie is actually about -70 degrees. But it doesn't have to be actually -70 degrees.

We can't shout Let's go here, but let's try until we can. As I mentioned earlier, the Le Chatelier principle. Since there has been a change from the outside, we need to change to become happy again, right? Yes, we can't withstand it. We need to change. So, actively, let's start reducing carbon emissions. Like countries agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement, let's try to reduce carbon emissions. Let's aim to achieve net zero by 2050. Net zero means becoming zero net. Let's try to move away from the current deficit lifestyle. So, let's try to make carbon emissions zero. But this is not easy because if you look at the orange color on the left, just two things, energy and industrial processes, already exceed 70%. What we enjoyed in terms of living and consuming mostly accounts for it. By 2050, we need to...

We can't just not create it. So, to do that, we need to create something that eliminates the 2. By doing that, we will reduce the amount of emissions, of course, due to efficiency reasons. However, there are unavoidable parts that we cannot give up because we currently enjoy them. We should think about ways to replace them in the direction of reducing CO2 emissions or not increasing them. Therefore, we are contemplating on whether there are ways to replace them. So, the solution that chemists have come up with for this concern is on the next page, called CCUS. This captures and utilizes carbon, or it's storage. Here, carbon, in a broad sense, refers to all carbon-containing organic substances that originate from petroleum. In a narrow sense, we are now talking about this specific carbon. This, which I have marked in yellow, is an artificial carbon removal cycle. In the past, when we used firewood, as I mentioned, the trees naturally absorbed CO2 and did well.

We burned it, but now the situation is different, so we artificially removed CO2, which means we have to put it back artificially to get rid of it. Therefore, the following technologies are included: basically, when we produce energy or in large-scale chemical processes, then in industries like steel and cement, a significant amount of CO2 is emitted. In the past, more than 70% of the CO2 emissions came from those areas, so we emit carbon dioxide there and capture it. We transport them and store them back into the ground stably. Since we extracted oil, there are methods like storing it underground. Another approach is to consider how to utilize CO2 since it contains carbon. So, we approach it with this concept. Therefore, to briefly introduce CCS, CCS stands for Carbon Capture and Storage. It isolates carbon technically, as shown in the left picture.

Moving the captured items, whether it's on land or deep underwater, it's not just underwater, but finding a stable stratum below the sea surface and burying it there to prevent it from coming out anymore, filling it diligently and closing the valve to prevent it from coming out. Another method is burying it in a place where we used oil anyway, because oil was stable there. However, if you bury it like that, it's fine if the oil stays in a liquid state, but if it's mixed with rocks, you can't suck it out with a straw. Like when you drink a strawberry latte and the strawberry gets stuck and doesn't come out, in this way, the remaining things are liquefied CO2 and forcibly injected in, pushing up the remaining residue with a straw on this side. When it comes up, if you release the pressure again, the CO2 becomes gas.

Petroleum is recovered. It's called enhanced oil recovery, EOR technology. Now, in countries with genetic engineering, they use up all the remaining oil, then diligently fill and seal it, and that's the end. Now, there are methods like this, and in the case of CCU utilization technology, have you heard that it no longer emits carbon dioxide? It captures, transforms, reuses, and then looks for the ocean. So, the oil that we imported and used was discarded. The idea is to capture it in advance and reuse it. Reusing not only has a recycling effect but also, actually, the positive effect of this is probably something you all have thought about. The positive effect is that by reusing it, we can eliminate the incoming and outgoing petroleum. As I mentioned earlier, the problem is that extracting carbon that does not cause any problems, using it, and then releasing it into the air is the issue.

So if it's there, you don't have to bring it in or take it out anymore. It's about continuously developing yourself and reusing it. It's about recycling, reusing, and creating new things. Actually, this is what we did at our research institute. We convert CO2 into petroleum feedstock. If you look here, what comes out now is the naphtha from the plastic raw materials earlier. In reality, through the CO2 chemical process, it changes like this. So, by changing it like this, we can make various plastic raw materials again and use them, or there are also ways to turn them into fuel. The reason this is possible is because if you look at CO2, there is one carbon and two oxygens attached on both sides, so it's carbon dioxide. So, when you remove one oxygen, carbon monoxide, which is chemically very useful, is produced. It is used as a basis for all chemical raw materials.

In the highlighted part earlier, there is formic acid, formic acid elements, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and plastics below. If you look, you will see things connected with C5 double bonds. So, because various compounds are involved like this, there is a possibility to change the shorts in various ways. Here, for example, baking soda is actually in a lower energy state with CO2. Because if you see here, now there are three oxygens, CO2 has a higher oxidation state. Then, the parts expressed as fuel above do not show any CO at all. Those parts completely remove everything except carbon, so with CO2, there are possibilities to make as much as you want. Anyway, today, in this way, about carbon, petrochemistry, and our society built on petrochemistry, and how our society should move forward, we will show you wonderful perspectives on this.

I would like to once again applaud Dr. Park Ji-hoon from the Korean Institute of Chemistry. Thank you. Then, I will finish here today. There is plenty of time for greetings. It was a slow but meaningful lecture and lab meeting for you. Thank you, professors. Thank you.

화학으로 탄소중립이 가능하다?! 지속 가능한 문명을 가능하게 만드는 화학! (한국화학연구원 박지훈 박사 2부)

과학의 대중화를 위해 박사급 아재들이 직접 만든, 
될 과학 “안될 과학” 다 만드는 본격 과학 채널

안될과학과 함께 세상을 바꿀 과학자 및 과학기술 분야 전문가+덕후분들을 항상 기다립니다.
과학의 경이로움을 보여주실 수 있는 본인의 연구분야나 전문적인 지식이 있다면,
아래 메일주소로 내용을 보내주세요! 협업 절차에 대해 안내해드리겠습니다. (원고료 지급)

*안될과학 콘텐츠 카테고리
[1] 랩미팅 : 매주 화요일, 목요일 밤 10시 라이브로 진행되는 역수직 과학 토크쇼 (카페 공지 일정 참고) 
[2] 긴급과학 : 하나의 주제에 대하여 방대한 자료와 함께 빠르게, 깊이있게
[3] 초긴급과학 : 긴급과학보다 시의성이 있는 최신 주제를 더 긴급하게
[4] 언박싱사이언스 : 초최신 과학 논문을 언박싱하여 쉽게 설명
[5] 과학자열전 : 과학자의 잘 알려지지 않은 삶과 그들의 업적
[6] 안될과학TMI : 일상의 궁금증을 과학적으로 풀어내는 콘텐츠
[7] 떠날과학 : 직접 현장으로 떠나 전하는 과학 이야기 
[8] 랩무비 : 영화 안의 과학을 다룹니다. 단, 억과주의! 
[9] 게임속과학 : 게임인가요? 과학인가요? 게임속과학
[10] 과학적리뷰 : 무엇이든 과학적으로 리뷰합니다!
[11] 긴급홍보 : 과학관련 주제를 굉장히 빠르게 홍보
[12] 카테고리 없어도 결국 과학과학, 과학은 사랑입니다♡

- 쉬는 중 -
[-] 브이로그 : 일상 콘텐츠. 아재들에 맞지 않는 것 같아 한편 만들고 잠시 중단 
[-] 안될실험 : 과학적인 설명이 가미된 과학 실험 꽁트 콘텐츠. 잘 만들진 않음 

※ 협업 및 비즈니스 문의 : MoreScience2018@gmail.com


안될과학 Unrealscience

The Impact of Chemistry on Food Production and Population Growth

In the late 1800s, "The Principle of Population" predicted that population growth would outpace food production, leading to peril.

A chemist proposed that the only solution to this problem was through chemistry, particularly the synthesis of ammonia.

The discovery and commercialization of ammonia production had a significant impact on food production and population growth, contributing to the tremendous progress of civilization since the 1800s.

The Challenge of Separating Nitrogen for Ammonia Synthesis

Nitrogen, making up 70% of the Earth's atmosphere, requires a tremendous external stimulus, such as high temperature, to be separated for ammonia production.

The process also involves applying high pressure, up to 200 atmospheres, to prevent the nitrogen and hydrogen from leaving.

The Haber-Bosch process, crucial for ammonia synthesis, faces the challenge of obtaining nitrogen from the air and producing hydrogen, which is not naturally available.

The Haber-Bosch Process: Production, Impact, and Challenges

The Haber-Bosch process produces nitrogen and hydrogen, with a significant amount of CO2 emissions.

It accounts for about 1-2% of energy production globally and is still in use today.

There is a need to develop the process to reduce its environmental impact and energy requirements, but this presents challenges due to the complexity of the reaction.

The Impact of Petroleum-based Products on Modern Life

Petroleum-based materials have enabled a culture of easy and cheap production, leading to a throwaway mentality and environmental pollution.

The extravagant use of single-use plastics is contributing to CO2 emissions and the climate crisis, impacting extreme temperatures worldwide.

The rise in average temperatures is directly affecting crop supply, leading to food inflation and scarcity, ultimately impacting the global economy.

The Impact of Human Activity on Climate Change

The average temperature has increased by 1.

5 degrees, while carbon dioxide emissions have risen from 290 ppm to 417 ppm.

Despite discussions and promises to reduce emissions, there has been a lack of definite actions to address the issue.

The crisis of climate change has led to the development of challenging measures, such as carbon border adjustment mechanisms, which could significantly impact carbon-intensive industries.

The Impact of Temperature Changes on Civilization and the Environment

The Earth's temperature only needs to drop by 4 degrees for an ice age to occur, which could have drastic consequences.

A temperature rise of just 1 degree has the potential to significantly impact our planet and civilization.

In order to address this issue, there is a need to focus on reducing CO2 emissions and striving for net zero emissions by 2050, despite the challenges posed by the heavy reliance on energy and industrial processes.

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Technologies

Chemists have developed CCUS as a solution to reduce CO2 emissions by capturing and storing carbon, particularly from energy production and industrial processes.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) isolates carbon and buries it underground to prevent further release, while Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) focuses on transforming and reusing CO2 to eliminate emissions.

CCUS technologies aim to address the issue of carbon emissions by capturing, storing, and repurposing carbon to prevent its release into the atmosphere.

Converting CO2 into Petroleum Feedstock: A Sustainable Solution

Researchers at a Korean institute have developed a process to convert CO2 into petroleum feedstock, which can be used to create plastic raw materials, fuel, formic acid, and other chemical compounds.

The process takes advantage of the chemical properties of CO2, allowing for the production of various compounds and the reduction of carbon emissions.

This innovation offers promising perspectives for carbon utilization and the future of petrochemistry.