The natural world is a beautiful and intricate system of intertwined and overlapping materials ecosystems. As humans, our understanding of the various interrelationships is only at the most basic level. One important reason why these naturally interdependent cyclic systems exist with exquisite complexity is because of the very fact that they all co-emerged over 3.8 billion years in the presence of one another. Evolutionary forces drove symbiotic relationships by selecting for and against mechanisms and materials that were conducive to the success of the entire multi-component matrix. As human society seeks to create a sustainable existence and a circular economy, we unfortunately have the disadvantage that our various industrial “species” have developed with a level of independence, essentially unaware of adjacent processes. We are forced into a position of creating connectivity’s that were not part of the considerations in the original design. Obviously, this creates a daunting challenge. While there have been some examples of sustainable products designed and deployed in many industrial settings, the vast majority of industrial products and processes continue to exist disconnected and unsustainable over the long run. The pathway to create most of these technological ecosystems will require the inventive application of biomimicry and green chemistry (the molecular level mechanistic underpinnings of sustainability). This presentation will describe mechanisms in nature that we should consider when designing the human built world. Illustrative examples of practical real world deployments will be presented.

Presented by Prof. John C. Warner, Warner-Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry