The book explores in a critical manner the history of the green chemistry concept. It presents its founding moments as well as subsequent developments. It focuses in particular on theoretical controversies concerning greenness criteria and on alternative frameworks trying to knock green chemistry off its pedestal.
In recent decades, green chemistry dominated the imagination of sustainability scholars all over the world and was embraced by leading global universities and companies. This new concept is supposed to address the environmental crisis by making chemistry safer and less polluting.
And yet, under this seemingly straightforward success story hides a tangled and ambiguous reality: alternative frameworks, shoddy greenness criteria, and power struggles.
This book retraces the history of the green chemistry concept and critically assesses its claims and dominant narratives about it. It is an indispensable guide for all those interested in the challenges of sustainability, whether they have background in chemistry or not. Its underlying question is: is green chemistry really that green?
-12 principles of green chemistry (their proliferation and limitations)
-Forgotten European alternatives to green chemistry
-Sustainable chemistry as an alternative to green chemistry
-False narratives about green chemistry
Marcin Krasnodebski, Ph.D., is a researcher at the Institute for the History of Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is the author of an award-winning dissertation on the history of resin chemistry in France. His research focuses on environmental history and the history of science.
