Sustainability metrics for a fossil- and renewable-based route for 1,2-propanediol production: A comparison

Abstract

Historically, 1,2-PDO had always been exclusively produced from fossil resources and many routes havebeen industrially commercialized. More recently, new strategies based on renewable resources haveallowed for the development of technology for the commercial production of 1,2-PDO from glycerol.In the present study the fossil-based chlorhydrin process is taken as a reference and compared to thecatalytic hydrogenolysis of glycerol route to evaluate which one is the most advantageous in termsof sustainability. To this extent, a concise and practical approach is employed that allows for an earlystage comparison based on four preselected green metrics that estimate material and energy efficiency,economic added value and land use. The evaluation shows that the renewable-based routes can providea viable alternative to the petrochemical route and both approaches must therefore be considered ina global process. Importantly, the production of valuable co-products needs to be included in such anassessment as these strongly influence its outcome.