The chemical industry, which converts raw materials into chemicals used as essential components in everyday items, supports 25% of the US GDP and is a $486 billion market. The US is the second-largest global chemical producer (responsible for 13% of the world's production), and 96% of US-made goods rely on chemical sector products in their manufacturing. The chemical industry is also essential for many of today's necessities, such as safe drinking water, food, energy, medicine, and more. Hydrogen peroxide, for example, is used in the production of bleach, rocket fuel, foam rubber, medicinal products, organic chemicals, and cleaning agents found in toothpaste and household cleaners.
Chemicals can take a long time to break down naturally in the environment, but new technologies have emerged that can destroy them in a matter of seconds. Researchers are racing to identify commercially viable methods that could be used to eliminate contamination in identified hot spots across the US. Meanwhile, dozens of startups are pursuing technologies for the removal of per and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), most of which remain in the lab and have yet to be brought to market at scale. For example, Aquagga is a cleantech hardware startup developing technology to break down and destroy PFAS. The company traces its roots to research at the University of Washington and the University of Alaska.
Another way of dealing with the carbon footprint of chemicals is to rethink how we make chemicals in the first place. For example, the startup Solugen utilizes patented bioforge technology which combines synthetic biology, metal catalyst engineering, and modular plant design to create chemicals from bio-based feedstocks. This process intends to replace traditional chemical production, which relies on fossil fuels, with environmentally friendly, faster, cheaper, and more efficient alternatives. Solugen modifies corn syrup with genetically engineered enzymes to create high-performance substitutes for everyday chemicals. Check out our full memo on Solugen here.
