By offering innovative solutions in bio-energy, solar cells, battery materials, and chemical synthesis, green chemistry is essential for sustainably addressing the world's energy crisis. When fossil fuels are used, they make a net positive increase in carbon in the atmosphere and are not renewable. However, numerous solutions are emerging to address this problem.

Through different transformation technologies, such as anaerobic digestion, fermentation, or gasification, biomass can be transformed into biofuels and bioenergy, which generally have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels. More recently, carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies are being developed to reduce further the carbon footprint of fossil fuels or biomass used for energy. With CCUS, carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere during energy production can be captured, stored, or even used as feedstock to create new products.

Green chemistry is improving batteries (to store renewable energy) so they are less toxic, especially during disposal or recycling. Researchers are also working to increase the efficiency of solar cells while using earth-abundant catalysts like iron. Chemists and engineers have more tools than ever to evaluate processes at the lab and industrial scales to see if they can be carried out using less energy, such as by running reactions at ambient temperature and pressure. Life cycle assessments help industry and researchers determine the impacts of a manufacturing process more precisely.

Explore the resources below to learn more about how green chemistry is advancing energy science.