User:ONealDarius/Green engineering

The concept of green engineering began between 1966 and 1970 during the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development under the name: "The Ten Ecological Commandments for Earth Citizens". ^[1] The idea was expressed visually as the following cycle starting with the first commandment and ending with the tenth:

1. Respect the laws of nature
2. Learn as responsible earth citizens from the wisdom of nature
3. Do not reduce plurality richness, abundance of living species
4. Do not pollute
5. Face earth-responsibility every day for our children and our children's children
6. Follow the principle of nature precaution/sustainability in all economic activities!
7. Act as you speak!
8. Prefer small clever and intelligent problem solutions, including rational and emotional intelligence factors
9. Information about environmental damage belongs to mankind - not (only) to privilieged big business
10. Listen carefully [to] what your own body tells you about [the] impact of your very personal social and natural environment upon your wellbeing^[1]

The idea was then presented by Peter Menke-Glückert at the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Conference at Paris in 1968. These principles are similar to the Principles of Green Engineering in that each individual has an intrinsic responsibility to uphold these values. The Ten Ecological Commandments for Earth Citizens is thought by Dr. Płotka-Wasylka to have influenced The Principles of Green Engineering, which has been said to imply that all engineers have a duty to uphold sustainable values and practices when creating new processes.

Green engineering is a part of a larger push for sustainable practices in the creation of products such as chemical compounds. This movement is more widely known as green chemistry, and has been headed since 1991 by Paul Anastas and John C. Warner. Green chemistry, being older than green engineering, is a more researched field of study and began in 1991 with the creation of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry.

On May 19 2003, Paul Anastas along with his future wife, Julie Zimmerman created the 12 Principles of Green Engineering. This expanded upon the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry to not only include the guidelines for what an environmentally conscious chemical should be in theory, but also what steps should be followed to create an environmentally conscious alternative to the chemical.^[2] Environmentally conscious thought can be applied to engineering disciplines such as civil and mechanical engineers when considering practices with negative environmental impacts, such as concrete hydration. These principles still were centered around chemical processes, with about half pertaining to engineers.^[3] There are many ways that both the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry and 12 Principles of Green Engineering interact, referred to by Tse-Lun Chen et al. as "cross connections". Every one Principle of Green Engineering has one or more corresponding "cross connections" to Principles of Green Chemistry. For example, principle 1 of green engineering is "Inherent Rather than Circumstantial", which has cross connections to principles 1, 3, and 8 of green chemistry.^[4]

On May 19th 2003, during a conference at the Sandestin Resort in Florida, a group consisting of about 65 chemists, engineers, and government officials met to create a narrowed down set of green principles relating to engineers and engineering. After 4 days of debating and proposals, the Sandestin Declaration was created^[5]. This declaration established the 9 Principles of Green Engineering, which narrowed down the focus to processes engineers can abide by, with a focus on designing processes and products with the future in mind. The resulting 9 Principles were later supported and recognized by The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy (Los Alamos National Laboratory), and the ACS Green Chemistry institute^®.^[5]

"Sustainable engineering" and "green engineering" are terms that are often used interchangeably. The main difference between the two being that green engineering is "optimized to minimize negative impacts without exhausting resources available in the natural environment" and sustainable engineering is "more directed toward building a better future for the next generations".^[6] The idea of sustainable development became intertwined with engineering and chemistry early in the 21st century. One often cited book that brought the idea of sustainable development to engineers was the publishing of: "Sustainable Infrastructure: Principles into Practice", written by Charles Ainger and Richard Fenner.

An ionic liquid can be described simply as a salt in a liquid state, exhibiting triboelectric properties which allow it to be used as a lubricant. Traditional solvents are composed of oils or synthetic compounds, like fluorocarbons which, when airborne, can act as a greenhouse gas. Ionic liquids are nonvolatile and have high thermal stability and, as Lei states, "They present a “greener” alternative to standard solvents".^[7] Ionic liquids can also be used for carbon dioxide capture or as a component in bioethanol production in the gasification process.^[2]

Ceramic tile production is typically an energy and water-intensive process. Ceramic tile milling is similar to cement milling for concrete, where there is both a dry and wet milling process. Wet milling typically produces a higher quality tile at a higher cost of energy and water, while dry milling would produce a lower quality material at a lower cost.^[2]