The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes landmark green chemistry technologies that turn climate risk and other environmental problems into business opportunities. The Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award winners will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, DC. The winners and their innovative technologies are:
- Algenol in Fort Myers, Florida for developing a blue-green algae to produce ethanol and other fuels.
- Hybrid Coating Technologies/Nanotech Industries of Daly City, California for developing a safer, plant-based polyurethane for use on floors, furniture and in foam insulation.
- LanzaTech in Skokie, Illinois for the development of a process that uses waste gas to produce fuels and chemicals, reducing companies’ carbon footprint.
- SOLTEX (Synthetic Oils and Lubricants of Texas) in Houston, Texas for developing a new chemical reaction process that eliminates the use of water and reduces hazardous chemicals in the production of additives for lubricants and gasoline.
- Renmatix in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania for developing a process using supercritical water to more cost effectively break down plant material into sugars used as building blocks for renewable chemicals and fuels.
During the 20 years of the program, EPA has received more than 1,500 nominations and presented awards to 104 technologies. Winning technologies are responsible for annually reducing the use or generation of more than 826 million pounds of hazardous chemicals, saving 21 billion gallons of water, and eliminating 7.8 billion pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent releases to air, according to EPA.
An independent panel of technical experts convened by the American Chemical Society Green Chemistry Institute formally judged the 2015 submissions from among scores of nominated technologies and made recommendations to EPA for the 2015 winners. The 2015 awards event will be held in conjunction with the 2015 Green Chemistry and Engineering Conference.
For more information, visit: www2.epa.gov/green-chemistry
