Every year, students from all over the world come to the ACS Summer School on Green Chemistry & Sustainable Energy. This year, one student from Brazil, Thaíla de Mello Florêncio, took her knowledge gained from the program and co-authored a paper with her professor Geoffroy R.P. Malpass, Ph.D., Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineir, Instituto de Ciências Tecnológicas e Exatas, titled "A Brief Explanation of Environmental Licenses in Brazil."
"It is possible to say that nowadays in Brazil both economy and industry are entering an era of greater environmental awareness," write the authors. The paper goes on to survey the existing environmental regulations in Brazil, calling them "a promising system of evaluation for potentially hazardous activities", as well factors inhibiting the application of green chemistry principles to this system. "In Brazil the concept of Green Chemistry has not yet received the dissemination seen in other countries, even at academic levels, although this is changing," write the authors. As a result, even though "sustainable technologies are receiving a greater insertion in the market place," because of the lack of green chemistry knowledge, these advancements affect the environmental impact at the point of use, rather than at the beginning of the process, where green chemistry principles could make a real impact.
Read the paper: A Brief Explanation of Environmental Licenses in Brazil
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