Pressures due to climate change and a rapidly growing and increasingly wealthy population are creating enormous challenges for mankind.
The RSC brings together scientists around the world to identify technological and sustainable solutions to these challenges, and to promote awareness and action.
Chemistry for Tomorrow’s World looks at seven major issues facing society: creating sustainable energy supplies, securing an environmentally friendly food supply; adapting cities to meet the needs of citizens; improving human health; enabling people to have a better lifestyle; conserving precious resources and managing air and water resources.
For each issue, we have identified a number of challenges for the chemical sciences and the role that chemistry will play in providing solutions. Our top ten immediate priorities are:
- Increasing agricultural productivity to provide food, feed, fibre and fuel
- Developing alternative materials and new recovery processes for valuable materials
- Developing renewable fuels and chemicals from biomass
- Advancing to earlier diagnosis and improved methods of monitoring disease
- Providing access to clean drinking water for everybody
- Transforming drug discovery, development and healthcare
- Improving energy conversion and storage technologies, such as batteries, and develop sustainable transport
- Developing nuclear fission and investigating fusion technologies
- Developing the next generation of solar cells
- Reducing waste throughout the product lifecycle
The full document "Chemistry for Tomorrow's World" on www.rsc.org