1. UN declared the International Year of Chemistry

The Year 2011 has been declared the International Year of Chemistry by the United Nations to deepen the public understanding of the fundamental importance of chemistry in addressing the great human tasks. Innovation is needed in the development of alternative energy sources, ensuring the food and the supply of drinking water for a growing world population.

The DBU promotes projects in the field of chemistry. Guiding principle is the Green Chemistry. This sustainable chemistry demands that

• claimed resources should be renewable,
• the necessary expenditure of energy and the resulting waste should be minimized,
• the recyclability of products should be increased, and
• human- and eco-toxic effects are avoided.

Economic, environmental and social objectives are considered. Products and processes are evaluated over the entire life cycle - from "cradle to grave". Considering the way from raw materials through the manufacturing process to the finished product results into approaches for sustainable chemistry, such as

• the use of recycled materials, or biomass which are not in competition with food production,
• new catalytic processes in chemical production, which make the process more efficient,
• syntheses with environmentally friendly solvents or solvent-free syntheses,
• saving energy and raw materials in chemical processes, eg by the use of microreactors,
• inherently safe products that do not have undesirable "side effects",
• considering sustainability issues already when chemical products are designed,
• "chemical leasing", an innovative business model, which replaces the classic, quantity-based payment (€ / kg) through a use-related pay (eg  € / m2 of painted surface).

The following events are planned during the International Year of Chemistry 2011:

• Conference: Unlimited availability of strategic metals? On 31 January / 1 February 2011 in Tutzing (see: www.dbu.de/550artikel30833_135.html)
• Congress: Renewable resources sustainably used - 15-16. February 2011 in Oberhausen
• Conference: Underwater cleaning of pleasure craft - An environmentally friendly and viable alternative to antifouling coatings? - 12 March 2011 in Osnabrueck
• Exhibition: "Sustainable Chemistry" - opening in September at the Science Forum Chemie in Bremen, and from November in the Center for Environmental Communication in Osnabrueck. The interactive exhibition, designed by the DBU in cooperation with the German Chemical Society (GDCh), the VCI (Association of Chemical Industry) and the DECHEMA, shows the close connection between chemistry and everyday life.