For many environmentally conscious people, landing a job in the sustainability sector is synonymous with realizing their activist praxis and achieving financial stability. Although the importance of the climate and biodiversity crises is far from established in public opinion, and environmental law is often found limping behind the malpractices of corporations and governments, many different kinds of environmental work have been introduced to the job market (some of which can be quite lucrative). Other professions were transformed to better handle areas of work that affect the environment in some way or another; after all, the environment is in a circle of constant interaction with most forms of human activity.

One such profession is that of chemical engineers: being industry staples, their job description has changed quite a bit with the passage of time and the advancement of science. But what do chemical engineers do to help protect the environment?

Petroleum Engineering and Alternative Energy Sources

Petroleum engineering (the study and processing of fossil fuels and their products) has always been the definitive role of chemical engineers, and perhaps one of the best-paying career paths a graduate can follow. This places chemical engineers in an awkward position when it comes to the environment: the use of fossil fuels has been identified as a leading factor in climate change, not to mention the grave geopolitical implications of the oil industry.

So how can a petroleum engineer contribute to sustainability? The truth is that phasing out fossil fuels will not happen overnight. If we have our sights on a truly sustainable future, we need to thoroughly study alternative energy sources and how to harness, process, and distribute them. The current petroleum industry must be dismantled in ways that are equally sustainable. This all takes time; but more importantly, it takes energy experts to figure out the details. Fortunately, chemical engineers are well-versed in energy systems, and many of them are working on alternative energy production processes, such as hydrogen combustion.

Plus, the reality of the energy landscape is that while more and more governments are beginning to pursue renewable energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels, the latter remain far more popular. Like with many deeply rooted unsustainable practices, it will take time to abandon our use of fossil fuels, so some chemical engineers are focusing on making the petroleum industry less harmful to the environment until that happens.

Environmental Engineering

The field of environmental science is incredibly broad, and it combines the expertise of specialists like biologists, geologists, physicists; and, of course, chemical engineers. Environmental engineers draw from a wealth of scientific knowledge to solve environmental challenges, such as reducing emissions, revivifying areas where disaster has struck, and calculating the effects of pollution on various ecosystems, including human communities.

For instance, chemical engineers are often tasked with developing mathematical models that describe how different pollutants spread. By investigating the course of a chemical substance through the food chain, they can determine its concentration in human and animal tissue. In layman’s terms, this means that engineers examine what we eat, drink, or breathe in. Unhealthy amounts of a certain pollutant in human tissue indicate that there is a source of pollution nearby, and this is often a crucial part of risk analysis that corporations conduct before starting a new manufacturing venture.

Chemical engineers are also responsible for designing the systems that take care of our waste. Many methods of dealing with our trash are quite complex and require a thorough knowledge of engineering, soil science, and microbiology. Our waste also provides a lot of interesting information about human habits, and is even being used to combat the coronavirus pandemic: in Thessaloniki, Greece, the Aristotle University’s Environmental Engineering lab has been measuring the viral load in sewage samples. This method paints a vivid image of how the pandemic is progressing, and can be much more statistically sound than running tests, especially when considering factors such as asymptomatic patients and test unavailability.

Granted, these are only a few of the jobs chemical engineers take up to protect the environment. One of the biggest advantages of the field is the incredible diversity of knowledge and technical skills an education in engineering provides. This versatility has allowed chemical engineers to stray from their traditional place in the industry. Many chemical engineers are now employed in institutions, unraveling the technical intricacies of the environmental lawmaking process; research labs, conducting groundbreaking research in mass transfer phenomena and figuring out a pollution-free future; or NGOs, conducting emergency engineering operations or risk analyses. In the end, working towards a sustainable society is a choice – a choice that hopefully more and more young engineers will make.