Innovation—a need and a challenge

✍ Scribed by Lederman, Peter B.

• Publisher: American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 139 KB
• Volume: 9
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0278-4491
• DOI: 10.1002/ep.670090403

✦ Synopsis

Innovation has for many years been the hallmark of America's success in bringing new products, new technologies, and new applications of existing technologies to the marketplace to fill the economic and technical needs of an ever-improving lifestyle. Innovation was the sine qua non of the most successful chemical enterprises in the world with trademarks such as "Better Things for Better Living Through Chemistry."

technologies that exist today are adaptations and improvements, many of them innovative, of old, proven technologies. Any improvements were incremental on technology that had been utilized for many years. This is certainly the case with the vast majority of improvements in air pollution control, including SO, and particulate removal, and in municipal wastewater treatment. This incremental, step-wise improvement has worked well and has had public acceptance because the risks were low, if any, for failure. Such a low risk was desirable when expending public funds while achieving the necessary, but at the time limited, goals for environmental improvement. The situation is now significantly different.

We, as engineers and as members of the public, must consider how we sustain growth in light of ever more limited environmental sinks and resources. We must mitigate the past insults to the environment, mainly found in our abandoned waste sites, without further injuring the environment, and at the same time, manage our current industrial and personal activities to minimize further environmental insult. These needs