Potable water tops survey as most important invention

In a survey published by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), chemical engineers¹ voted for what they consider to be the most important chemically engineered inventions and solutions of the modern era. The result – drinking water emerged as the top choice. Plastics and fertilizers ranked sixth and seventh.

1. Drinking or potable water²
2. Petrol or gasoline (and other fuels including diesel)³
3. Antibiotics⁴
4. Electricity generation (from fossil fuels)⁵
5. Vaccines⁶
6. Plastics⁷
7. Fertilizer⁸
8. Sanitation⁹
9. Electricity generation (from non-fossil fuels)¹⁰
10. Dosed medications (such as tablets, pills and capsules)¹¹

“As the global population grows to an estimated nine billion by 2050, issues like energy generation, the management of health, water supply and food production will become more challenging. They are issues that chemical engineers are already looking at to find the next generation of sustainable solutions,” said David Brown, IChemE’s chief executive.

Some inventions which didn’t make the top 10 included biofuels (11th), contraceptives (12th), batteries (13th), the catalytic converter (14th), adhesives (28th), pneumatic tyres (39th) and photographic film (41st).

References

¹ MediaEnvoys

The shortlist and top ten of best chemically engineered inventions were voted for by the Institution of Chemical Engineers’ MediaEnvoys. MediaEnvoys are volunteers from IChemE’s global membership and are responsible for promoting public understanding and awareness of chemical engineering, worldwide.

²Mercurial Superfly High