(577i) Promoting Resource Management in Teaching Laboratories: A Case Study for Effective Implementation of Sustainable Practices

Sustainability is top on the agenda for organizations with growing public demand to address carbon emissions. Over the last three decades, the UK has reduced its emissions by 44% and is the first G7 to legislate the target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 [1]. In this respect, we address the need to quantify the environmental footprint of research and teaching laboratories. Although most may assume that the environmental impact of a laboratory may be low or insignificant, this is not necessarily the case, and one must consider the cumulative effect on the nation's ability to achieve its net-zero goal. We propose that educational and research institutes collaborate to advocate for environmental protection by adopting sustainable laboratory practices to reduce the carbon footprint.

A recent report by The Royal Society of Chemistry [2] states that laboratories are responsible for 60 – 65% of electricity consumption within research institutes, while some research laboratories produce large amounts of waste, which accounts for 1.8% of the world's plastic production. Therefore, improving the sustainability of individual laboratories is believed to be the key to achieving Imperial College London's target of becoming a sustainable and net-zero carbon institution by 2040. As Imperial College London gravitates toward a sustainable economic model [3], the UG teaching laboratory in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London has taken the initiative to develop rigorous solutions that tackle the environmental impact of laboratories.

In educational institutes, there are typically two sources of carbon emissions: direct and indirect. The former is generated due to the sources owned and controlled by the educational institute's Estates department. On the other hand, the indirect emissions arise from activities across the educational institute and are not directly managed by the educational institute. Herein, we focus on the indirect emissions resulting from laboratory activities and contribute to the educational institute's carbon footprint.

Teaching laboratories are energy and resource-intensive by nature [4], and one must take a holistic approach to alleviate the environmental impact while maintaining the teaching activities' objectives. Over the past decade, several sustainable laboratory practices have been introduced, such as efficient waste management, minimizing water and energy usage, and utilizing eco-friendly materials. Nevertheless, it is crucial to view the entire lifecycle of the products being used and the processes carried out throughout the day, from procurement to disposal, to reduce the environmental impact. Implementing sustainable lab practices has been an ongoing effort at Imperial College London over the past few years as it benefits the environment and results in economic and social advantages. Imperial College has proactively implemented the Laboratory Efficiency Assessment Framework (LEAF), leading to 6 silver and gold certificate awards [4].

We developed and implemented an innovative-multifaceted and comprehensive strategy to achieve sustainability, intending to achieve net-zero emissions by 2026. The laboratory accommodates 22 experimental facilities at pilot and bench scales, serving three core undergraduate modules. These modules run in parallel from October – December and January – March, which requires the laboratory to operate for 6 hours per day for the complete module duration. Furthermore, the laboratory is equipped with 15 analytical equipment, i.e., HPLCs, GC, particle size analyzers, DSC, Spectrometers, density meters, etc., that provide the characterization facilitates for various teaching lab projects. The laboratory also has auxiliary equipment such as fume cupboards, lab freezers, dishwashers, weighing balances, hot and stirrer plates, and overhead stirrers. During the term time, we estimated the energy, water, and solvent consumption for the three modules and identified the measures that can be implemented to reduce the consumption.

Figure 1 Approach to deliver sustainable Cheme Teaching Labs

To address the concerns above, we implemented a three-step ameliorated approach (see Fig.1) to reduce the energy, water, and solvent consumption during these modules. First, to alleviate the energy consumption in the lab, a hybrid-microgrid system based on Photovoltaics and a Fuel cell system was designed and is currently being implemented. The aim is to generate 16 kW to power 4 pilot-scale experimental rigs, which will be taken off the Imperial College grid resulting in a marginal reduction in electrical consumption. A further reduction in electrical consumption has been achieved by eliminating the usage of individual bath heaters and alternatively utilizing a closed-loop heating system that serves the entire laboratory. We have implemented strict regimes around the hydraulic benches and other fluid mechanics-based projects, where all water is reused and recycled. No fresh tap water is used in the labs except for preparing some solutions (i.e. NaOH solution) and cleaning glassware.

The water consumption within the lab has been optimized by utilizing closed loop cooling and heating water systems, replacing traditional methods, i.e., tap water as a cooling medium in fume cupboard condensers and individual temperature control systems requiring tap water as a cooling medium, resulting in a significant reduction in water consumption. A pilot-scale ion exchange facility was also commissioned and operated to produce demineralized water for lab operations, resulting in some lab wastewater being recycled.

Finally, we introduce an experimental ecosystem to recirculate the solvents and significantly reduce solvent purchases. The ecosystem is schematically demonstrated in Figure: 2. This will help us substantially reduce fresh solvent usage from non-sustainable sources while achieving the learning outcome of practical education in an authentic setting. We are currently working on establishing collaborations, allowing us to obtain other organic and inorganic chemicals used in the facilities using green chemistry routes.

Figure 2 Experimental ecosystem to recirculate and reuse solvents within the teaching facilities.

Achieving sustainability is paramount in teaching laboratories as our nations work toward a sustainable future. While implementing sustainable measures and delivering a seamless learning experience may appear challenging, a balance between sustainability and upholding the learning objectives can be achieved through reasonable adjustments to the workflow. The case study presents a novel framework to achieve sustainability in a teaching-oriented laboratory, which has not been investigated thoroughly, and provides insight into the significance of addressing indirect emissions. The results of incorporating three key sustainable practices into teaching laboratory operations show the potential for not only significant reductions in energy, water, and solvent consumption but also led to the enhancement of the learning outcomes. Therefore, educational institutes must take further strides toward tackling indirect emissions and gradually scale up efforts to achieve collective sustainability goals.

References

[1] Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (2022) Net zero strategy: Build back greener, GOV.UK. GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/net-zero-strategy (Accessed: April 2, 2023).

[2] "Sustainable Laboratories - Practices to Reduce the Environmental Effects of Research." n.d. Royal Society of Chemistry. Accessed April 2, 2023. https://www.rsc.org/new-perspectives/sustainability/sustainable-laboratories/.

[3] Sustainable imperial (2021) Imperial College London. Imperial College London. Available at: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/sustainable-imperial/ (Accessed: April 2, 2023).

[4] Leaf - a new approach to achieving laboratory sustainability (no date) LEAF - A New Approach to Achieving Laboratory Sustainability | Sustainability Exchange. EAUC. Available at: https://www.sustainabilityexchange.ac.uk/leaf_a_new_approach_to_achievin... (Accessed: April 2, 2023).