Chemical engineering for the Anthropocene

Abstract

The environmental and resource crises that confront human life on earth demand changes to the whole socio-economic metabolic system. The changes will affect all aspects of life, including the practice of chemical engineering. The historical association of the profession with the fossil carbon economy means that the expertise that makes up chemical engineering must be re-examined and repurposed urgently if the discipline is to play a full role in the socio-economic transition. In this article, we review the historical development of chemical engineering to identify its unique features and find ways in which it can change to meet the challenge. A pattern of 30-year cycles in the development of the discipline is revealed, showing the way it has built up by incorporating approaches from other disciplines and also developing a unique set of skills and knowledge. Chemical engineering as taught needs to prepare graduates to operate under the kind of social contract embodied in declarations by professional bodies. We propose ways in which the expertise comprising chemical engineering can be applied in the ‘just transition’ to a less unsustainable society, including new approaches to plant and process design and also applications ‘outside the pipe’ to environmental modelling and industrial ecology. The unsustainability crisis results from a history of poor public and private decisions, so examination of the different types of decisions is timely. Specific roles for chemical engineers in deliberative decision processes are identified, including enhanced emphasis on risk and precaution.