• Request Info
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Give
  • Request Info
  • Visit
  • Apply
  • Give

Search

  • A-Z Index
  • Map

Chemistry

  • About
    • Student Organizations
    • Connect With Us
    • Careers With Us
    • Employee/Student Travel Request
    • Share Your Dr. Schweitzer Story
  • Undergraduate Students
    • Majors and Minors
    • First Year Students
    • Undergraduate Research
    • Summer Programs
    • Chemistry Lab Excused Absence
    • Apply
  • Graduate Students
    • Our Programs
    • Graduate Student Resources
    • Research Open House
    • Apply
  • Faculty
  • People
  • Research
    • Research Areas
    • Facilities
  • News
Home » Bailey

Bailey

Bailey Published in The Conversation

May 26, 2021 by Kayla Benson

Oil companies are going all-in on petrochemicals – and green chemistry needs help to compete

A Chevron oil refinery in Richmond, California.
AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

Constance B. Bailey, University of Tennessee

Global oil consumption declined by roughly 9% in 2020 as the pandemic reduced business and pleasure travel, factory production and transportation of goods. This abrupt drop accelerated an ongoing shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

U.S. government forecasts show that oil use for transportation, industry, construction, heating and electricity is declining and will continue to drop in the coming years. This trend has enormous implications for the oil industry: As the International Energy Agency observed in 2020, “No oil and gas company will be unaffected by clean energy transitions.”

About 80% of every barrel of oil refined in the U.S. today is used to make gasoline, distillate (diesel) and jet fuel, with the rest going into petrochemical products. EIA

Many of these companies are trying to make up losses by boosting production of petrochemicals derived from oil and natural gas. Today roughly 80% of every barrel of oil is used to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, with the rest going into petrochemical products. As demand for petroleum fuels gradually declines, the amount of oil used for that “other” share will grow.

This makes sense as a business strategy, but here’s the problem: Researchers are working to develop more sustainable replacements for petrochemical products, including bio-based plastics and specialty chemicals. However, petrochemicals can be manufactured at a fraction of the cost. As a biochemist working to develop environmentally benign versions of valuable chemicals, I’m concerned that without adequate support, pioneering green chemistry research will struggle to compete with fossil-based products.

This video from Austrian oil and gas company OMV shows how petrochemicals serve as building blocks for goods from pharmaceuticals to bike helmets.

Pivoting toward petrochemicals

Petrochemicals are used in millions of products, from plastics, detergents, shampoos and makeup to industrial solvents, lubricants, pharmaceuticals, fertilizer and carpeting. Over the next 20 years, oil company BP projects that this market will grow by 16% to 20%.

Oil companies are ramping up to increase petrochemical production. In the Saudi Arabian town of Yanbu, for example, two state-owned companies, Saudi Aramco and Sabic, are planning a new complex that will produce 9 million metric tons of petrochemicals each year, transforming Arabian light crude oil into lubricants, solvents and other products.

These changes are happening across the global industry. Several Chinese companies are constructing factories that will convert about 40% of their oil into chemicals such as p-Xylene, a building block for industrial chemicals. Exxon-Mobil began expanding research and development on petrochemicals as far back as 2014.

The International Energy Agency projects that petrochemicals will account for one-third of growth in global oil demand through 2030 and half of growth in demand through 2050.

The promise of green chemistry

At the same time, in the U.S. and other industrialized countries, health, environmental and security issues are driving a quest to produce sustainable alternatives for petroleum-based chemicals. Drilling for oil and natural gas, using petrochemicals and burning fossil fuels have widespread environmental and human health impacts. High oil consumption also raises national security concerns.

The Department of Energy has led basic research on bioproducts through its national laboratories and funding for university BioEnergy Research Centers. These labs are developing plant-based, sustainable domestic biofuels and bioproducts, including petrochemical replacements, through a process called “metabolic engineering.”

Researchers like me are using enzymes to transform leafy waste matter from crops and other sources into sugars that can be consumed by microorganisms – typically, bacteria and fungi such as yeast. These microorganisms then transform the sugars into molecules, similar to the way that yeast converts sugar to ethanol, fermenting it into beer.

In the creation of bioproducts, instead of creating ethanol the sugar is transformed into other molecules. We can design these metabolic pathways to create solvents; components in widely used polymers like nylon; perfumes; and many other products.

My laboratory is exploring ways to engineer enzymes – catalysts produced by living cells that cause or speed up biochemical reactions. We want to produce enzymes that can be put into engineered bacteria, in order to make structurally complex natural products.

The overall goal is to put carbon and oxygen together in a predictable fashion, similar to the chemical structures created through petroleum-based chemistry. But the green approach uses natural substances instead of oil or natural gas as building blocks.

This isn’t a new concept. Enzymes in bacteria are used to make an important antibiotic, erythromycin, which was first discovered in 1952.

All of this takes place in a biorefinery – a facility that takes natural inputs like algae, crop waste or specially grown energy crops like switchgrass and converts them into commercially valuable substances, as oil refineries do with petroleum. After fermenting sugars with engineered microorganisms, a biorefinery separates and purifies microbial cells to produce a spectrum of bio-based products, including food additives, animal feed, fragrances, chemicals and plastics.

In response to the global plastic pollution crisis, one research priority is “polymer upcycling.” Using bio-based feedstocks can transform single-use water bottles into materials that are more recyclable than petroleum-based versions because they are easier to heat and remold.

Heaps of debris spill out of shipping containers.

Thousands of pounds of marine debris, much of it plastic, collects on Midway Atoll in the northern Pacific Ocean.
Holly Richards, USFWS

Reducing the cost gap

To replace polluting goods and practices, sustainable alternatives have to be cost-competitive. For example, many plastics currently end up in landfills because they’re cheaper to manufacture than to recycle.

High costs are also slowing progress toward a bioeconomy. Today research, development and manufacturing are more costly for bioproducts than for established petrochemical versions.

Governments can use laws and regulations to drive change. In 2018 the European Union set an ambitious goal of sourcing 30% of all plastics from renewable sources by 2030. In addition to reducing plastic pollution, this step will save energy: Petroleum-based plastics production ranks third in energy consumption worldwide, after energy production and transport.

Promoting bio-based products is compatible with President Biden’s all-of-government approach to climate change. Biomanufacturing investments could also help bring modern manufacturing jobs to rural areas, a goal of Biden’s American Jobs Plan.

But oil company investments in the design of novel chemicals are growing, and the chasm between the cost of petroleum-based products and those produced through emerging green technologies continues to widen. More efficient technologies could eventually flood existing petrochemical markets, further driving down the cost of petrochemicals and making it even harder to compete.

In my view, the growing climate crisis and increasing plastic pollution make it urgent to wean the global economy from petroleum. I believe that finding replacements for petroleum-based chemicals in many products we use daily can help move the world toward that goal.

[You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors. You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter.]The Conversation

Constance B. Bailey, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Tennessee

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Filed Under: Bailey, News

Hix in Bailey Lab Named Goldwater Scholar

March 30, 2021 by Kayla Benson

As the result of a partnership with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs (NDEP), Mrs. Peggy Goldwater Clay, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, announced that the Trustees of the Goldwater Board have increased the number of Goldwater scholarships it has awarded for the 2021-2022 academic year to 410 college students from across the United States.

“As it is vitally important that the Nation ensures that it has the scientific talent it needs to maintain its global competitiveness and security, we saw partnering with the Goldwater Foundation as a way to help ensure the U.S. is developing this talent,” said Dr. Jagadeesh Pamulapati, Director of the NDEP program, as he explained the partnership. With the 2021 awards, this brings the number of scholarships awarded since 1989 by the Goldwater Foundation to 9457.

From an estimated pool of over 5,000 college sophomores and juniors, 1256 natural science, engineering and mathematics students were nominated by 438 academic institutions to compete for the 2021 Goldwater scholarships. Of students who reported, 198 of the Scholars are men, 207 are women, and virtually all intend to obtain a Ph.D. as their highest degree objective. Fifty-one Scholars are mathematics and computer science majors, 291 are majoring in the natural sciences, and 68 are majoring in engineering. Many of the Scholars have published their research in leading professional journals and have presented their work at professional society conferences.

Goldwater Scholars have impressive academic and research credentials that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs. Goldwater Scholars have been awarded 94 Rhodes Scholarships, 150 Marshall Scholarships, 170 Churchill Scholarships, 109 Hertz Fellowships, and numerous other distinguished awards like the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.

Elijah Hix, of Cookeville, Tennessee, is a College Scholar whose major focuses on quantum chemical biology. Hix has pursued research at UT, Tennessee Tech, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Currently he is conducting research at UT under Constance Bailey, assistant professor of chemistry. He subsequently plans to pursue a PhD in biophysics to study the intersection of enzymatic synthesis and cellular networking to develop more adaptable antibiotics. “I am honored to be selected as a 2021 Goldwater Scholar,” Hix said. “It is the culmination of years of work with my two mentors, and I look forward to using this opportunity to propel enzyme modeling and engineering to new heights.”

Hix anticipates graduating May 2022. “After obtaining my degree in Quantum Chemical Biology, I plan to earn a Ph.D. in Biophysics in order to continue my research and teach on the molecular dynamics of enzymes,” Hix said.

Learn More

Filed Under: Artsci, Bailey, News

Bailey Lab Published in ChemBioChem

January 25, 2021 by Kayla Benson

The Bailey Lab also published “Site Directed Mutagenesis of Modular Polketide Synthase Ketoreductase Domains for Altered Stereochemical Control” in ChemBioChem.

Bacterial modular type I polyketide synthases (PKSs) are complex multidomain assembly line proteins that produce a range of pharmaceutically relevant molecules with a high degree of stereochemical control. Due to their colinear properties, they have been considerable targets for rational biosynthetic pathway engineering. Among the domains harbored within these complex assembly lines, ketoreductase (KR) domains have been extensively studied with the goal of altering their stereoselectivity by site-directed mutagenesis, as they confer much of the stereochemical complexity present in pharmaceutically active reduced polyketide scaffolds. Here we review all efforts to date to perform site-directed mutagenesis on PKS KRs, most of which have been done in the context of excised KR domains on model diffusible substrates such as beta-keto N-acetyl cysteamine thioesters. We also discuss the challenges around translating the findings of these studies to alter stereocontrol in the context of a complex multidomain enzymatic assembly line.

Filed Under: Bailey, Uncategorized

Recent Posts

  • 2025 Honors Day
  • 2025 Undergraduate Awards
  • Baccile Awarded $1.8 Million Grant for Pioneering Research on Five-Carbon Metabolism
  • UT Chemistry Lab Explores Dipeptides for Carbon Dioxide Capture
  • Chemical Bonds – Fall 2024

Recent Comments

No comments to show.

College of Arts & Sciences

117 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center
1741 Volunteer Blvd.
Knoxville TN 37996-2600

Phone: 865-974-3241

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • September 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • October 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • January 2011
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010

Categories

  • ACGS
  • alumni
  • Analytical Chemistry
  • Artsci
  • award
  • Bailey
  • Best
  • BOV
  • Brantley
  • Calhoun
  • Campagna
  • Dadmun
  • Dai
  • Darko
  • Do
  • endowment
  • faculty
  • Faculty
  • Featured
  • fellowship
  • Graduate Student Spotlight
  • Graduate Students
  • Hazari
  • Heberle
  • Inorganic Chemistry
  • Jenkins
  • Kilbey
  • Larese
  • Long
  • Musfeldt
  • NCW
  • Nemykin
  • News
  • newsletter
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Physical Chemistry
  • Polymer Chemistry
  • Sharma
  • Sokolov
  • Uncategorized
  • undergraduate
  • Undergraduate Student Spotlight
  • Vogiatzis
  • Xue
  • Zhao

Copyright © 2025 · University of Tennessee, Knoxville WDS Genesis Child on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Chemistry

College of Arts & Sciences

552 Buehler Hall
1420 Circle Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37996-1600

Email: chemistry@utk.edu

Phone: 865-974-3141

 

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
865-974-1000

The flagship campus of the University of Tennessee System and partner in the Tennessee Transfer Pathway.

ADA Privacy Safety Title IX