New green chemistry technology that substitutes benign carbon dioxide for noxious industrial solvents holds great promise for the $368 billion per year U.S. chemical industry. The chemical industry plays a vital role in the nation's economy, representing 10 percent of all manufacturing and employing more than 1 million Americans. The industry uses about 3.8 million tons of solvents per year, most of which are potentially hazardous to health, safety and the environment. Solvents are necessary as media for chemical reactions, chemical separations and cleaning. A new approach utilizes newly developed chemicals, called surfactants, to disperse insoluble substances in carbon dioxide. The technique is being pioneered by ORNL, the University of North Carolina, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Texas.
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