Make the chemical industry clean with green chemistry: an interview with Buxing Han

Abstract

Abstract In the foreseeable future, human beings will continue to live on this blue planet named Earth. Our planet has limited space, resources and environmental carrying capacity, yet the human population and quality of life will continue to rise. Economic development and environmental protection are often conflicting goals, and it is a great challenge for us to achieve both at the same time: to develop sustainably. Green chemistry—the aim of making the whole industrial chain of chemistry and chemical industry environmentally friendly—has contributed, and will further contribute, to the sustainable development of the chemical industry. Recently, NSR talked with Buxing Han—an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and one of the leading scientists in this field. Han introduced the major scientific issues of green chemistry and talked about the challenges and future developments of this field.