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2012 Award Recipient Podcasts
Podcasts
- Greener Synthetic Pathways Award
- Greener Reaction Conditions Award
- Designing Greener Chemicals Award
- Small Business Award
- Academic Award
- Academic Award
Greener Synthetic Pathways Award
- A greener synthesis of a leading cholesterol drug
Audio Program (MP3): 
(1.03 MB, 1:07 minutes) Right-click the link to download the MP3 file.
Narrator: Dr. Richard Engler, US EPA
I'm Dr. Richard Engler of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Codexis, Inc. and Professor Yi Tang of University of California, Los Angeles were selected together as the 2012 winner of EPA's Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in the Greener Synthetic Pathways category. The title of this project is: An Efficient Biocatalytic Process to Manufacture Simvastatin.
Let me tell you about this award-winning technology. Simvastatin, a leading drug for treating high cholesterol, is manufactured from a natural product. The traditional multistep synthesis was wasteful and used large amounts of hazardous reagents. Professor Tang conceived a synthesis using an engineered enzyme and a practical low-cost feedstock. Codexis optimized both the enzyme and the chemical process. The resulting process greatly reduces hazard and waste, is cost-effective and meets the needs of customers. Some manufacturers in Europe and India use this process to make simvastatin.
Learn more about this innovation and green chemistry on our website, www.epa.gov/greenchemistry.
Read more about this innovation.
Greener Reaction Conditions Award
- Improving efficiency of aluminum production
Audio Program (MP3): (.98 MB, 1:04 seconds) Right-click the link to download the MP3 file.
Narrator: Dr. Richard Engler, US EPA
I'm Dr. Richard Engler of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Cytec Industries Inc. was selected as the 2012 winner of EPA's Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in the Greener Reaction Conditions category. The title of this project is: MAX HT™ Bayer Sodalite Scale Inhibitor.
Let me tell you about this award-winning technology. The “Bayer process” converts bauxite to alumina, the raw material for making aluminum. Mineral scale deposited on the heat exchangers and pipes in Bayer process plants increases energy use. Removing the scale requires stopping production and cleaning with sulfuric acid. Cytec’s product hinders scale growth. Eighteen plants worldwide are using MAX HT™ inhibitor, saving trillions of Btu (British thermal units) annually. Fewer cleaning cycles also reduce hazardous acid waste by millions of pounds annually.
Learn more about this innovation and green chemistry on our website, www.epa.gov/greenchemistry.
Read more about this innovation.
Designing Greener Chemicals Award
- Better paper without chemical additives
Audio Program (MP3): (1.02 MB, 1:07 minutes) Right-click the link to download the MP3 file.
Narrator: Dr. Richard Engler, US EPA
I'm Dr. Richard Engler of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Buckman International, Inc. was selected as the 2012 winner of EPA's Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in the Designing Greener Chemicals category. The title of this project is: Enzymes Reduce the Energy and Wood Fiber Required to Manufacture High-Quality Paper and Paperboard.
Let me tell you about this award-winning technology. Traditionally, making strong paper required costly wood pulp, energy-intensive treatment, or chemical additives. But that may change. Buckman’s Maximyze® enzymes modify the cellulose in wood to increase the number of “fibrils” that bind the wood fibers to each other, thus making paper with improved strength and quality -- without additional chemicals or energy. Buckman's process also allows papermaking with less wood fiber and higher percentages of recycled paper, enabling a single plant to save $1 million per year.
Learn more about this innovation and green chemistry on our website, www.epa.gov/greenchemistry.
Read more about this innovation.
Small Business Award
- Making specialty chemicals from vegetable oils.
Audio Program (MP3): (1 MB, 1:05 minutes) Right-click the link to download the MP3 file.
Narrator: Dr. Richard Engler, US EPA
I'm Dr. Richard Engler of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. was selected as the 2012 winner of EPA's Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in the Small Business category. The title of this project is: Using Metathesis Catalysis to Produce High-Performing, Green Specialty Chemicals at Advantageous Costs.
Let me tell you about this award-winning technology. Elevance employs Nobel-prize-winning catalyst technology to break down natural oils and recombine the fragments into novel, high-performance green chemicals. These chemicals combine the benefits of both petrochemicals and biobased chemicals. The technology consumes significantly less energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent compared to petrochemical technologies. Elevance is producing specialty chemicals for many uses, such as highly concentrated cold-water detergents that provide better cleaning with reduced energy costs.
Learn more about this innovation and green chemistry on our website, www.epa.gov/greenchemistry.
Read more about this innovation.
Academic Award
- Metal-free catalysts to make and break down plastics
Audio Program (MP3): (955 KB, 1:01 minutes) Right-click the link to download the MP3 file.
Narrator: Dr. Richard Engler, US EPA
I'm Dr. Richard Engler of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Professor Robert M. Waymouth of Stanford University and Dr. James L. Hedrick of the IBM Almaden Research Center were selected together as a 2012 winner of EPA's Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in the Academic category. The title of this project is: Organic Catalysis: A Broadly Useful Strategy for Green Polymer Chemistry.
Let me tell you about this award-winning technology. Traditional metal catalysts required to synthesize polyesters and other common plastics end up trapped in the plastic, raising human health and environmental concerns. Professor Waymouth and Dr. Hedrick discovered an array of alternatives—metal-free catalysts—that are highly active and able to make a wide variety of plastics. Their discoveries include catalysts that can depolymerize plastic and enable cradle-to-cradle recycling.
Learn more about this innovation and green chemistry on our website, www.epa.gov/greenchemistry.
Read more about this innovation.
Academic Award
- Catalysts to make polymers from carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide
Audio Program (MP3): (.99 MB, 1:05 minutes) Right-click the link to download the MP3 file.
Narrator: Dr. Richard Engler, US EPA
I'm Dr. Richard Engler of EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. Professor Geoffrey W. Coates of Cornell University was selected as a 2012 winner of EPA's Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in the Academic category. The title of this project is: Synthesizing Biodegradable Polymers from Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide.
Let me tell you about this award-winning technology. Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide derived from biomass or other carbon sources are ideal feedstocks for chemicals, but there had been no efficient way to make them into valuable polymers. Professor Coates developed a family of catalysts that convert carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide into polymers. Novomer, Inc. is using his discoveries to develop a range of innovative, high-performance products, including can and coil coatings, adhesives, foams, and plastics.
Learn more about this innovation and green chemistry on our website, www.epa.gov/greenchemistry.
Read more about this innovation.