Pure & AppZ. Chem., Vo1. 50, pp. 407-425.
Pergarnon Press Ltd. 1978.
0033-4545/78/0501-04 07 $02.00/0
Printed in Great Britain.
©IUPAC
CHEMISTRY, POPULATION, RESDURCES
Melvin Calvin
Laboratory of Chemical Biodynamics, University of California, Berkeley,
California 94720, USA
Plant photography by Genevieve Calvin
Abstract - Chemistry has played a central role in improving 1 iving conditions
and therefore contributing to the increased population of the last century,
with its concomitant drain on natural resources, particularly energy. lt
will be a,chemical task to help provide the means of supporting that increased population and particularly the energy it needs in the future.
INTRODUCTION
Chemistry plays a dominant role in the development of modern human societies over the entire
globe. lt has done so by virtue of the central position it has occupied in improving the
health and nutrition of people, as well as by improving their physical environment by
providing the new and necessary amounts of materials for clothing, shelter, transportation,
and other such amenities of the modern organized world. As you wil 1 see in a few moments,
this double role has both its merits and its demerits. As a result, at least in part, of
the contributions of chemistry to the improvement of the food and nutrition of the global
population (Ref. 1), as well as a contribution to the improvement of the publ ic health and
the health of individuals, the population of the globe has been rising very rapidly, as
s hown i n Fi g. 1•
Billions of people
8
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}Latin America
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Fig. 1.
America
Ju.S.S.R.
1940
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
World population projections.
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MELVIN CALVIN
408
POPULATION
The projection here isthat the populationwill rise to about seven billion by the year 2000
from a present value of about 3.5 billion. Mostofthat rise in numbers will clearly take
place in Asia, in Africa, and in Latin America. Part of the reason for this differential,
of course, is the fact that the rest of the world has al ready reached some new equi I ibrium,
with the better living conditions which chemistry has helped to produce, whereas the aforementioned countries are just now reaching it.
One of the ways in which one can evaluate that differential ls to note what has happened to
the life expectancy at birth in the Western countries, such as the United States and Western
Europe, in the last hundred years. This enormous increase in life expectancy from forty to
about seventy years in the one hundred years just past, shown in Fig. 2, appears now to have
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Fig. 2.
Average expectation of life at birth: Europe and the U.S.
reached some kind of
which the population
years less than that
their public health,
life expectancy, and
new Ievel. The life expectancy in the less developed countries, in
growth is expected to take place, is at present some twenty to thirty
shown for the Western world; as these less developed countries improve
nutrition, and medical facilities, they too can expect an increased
therefore have a much higher Impact on the population of the world.
One of the factors which has been of major influence on the growth rate of population has
been the increased food supply and the better nutrition that has resulted therefrom.
Chemistry has played an enormous role in this development by helping to produce the fertilizers that were necessary for the higher production, as weil as in playing a role in the
food processing and the preservation of food,after it is grown. We can expect molecular
biology, a specific branch of chemistry, to have an even greater Impact on the quality of
the crops that will be grown in the coming years; and therefore again we can expect that the
productivity of the acreage that we have available will actually increase even more.
AGRICULTURE
The contributions of chemistry to worldwide agriculture and to the increased productivity in
all parts of the world is made clear in Fig. 3. Here one can see that in all of the four
groups of countries shown, the absolute rate of production of food is increasing at very
nearly the same rate throughout the world. However, when we Iook at it in terms of the per
capita availability of food, we see that only in the developed countriessuch as the United
States and Western Europe is the actual amount of food per person increasing, whereas in
most of the other countries the amount of food per person is barely remaining constant over
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409
Chemistry, population, resources
Oeveloping countries
High-income countries
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Fig. 3.
Food production Indices: total
the last twenty-five years. The reason for this is now clear. The food production capability is increasing in all parts of the world at about the same rate, due to the improved
technologies. However, the population increase in the less developed countried is increasing
even more rapidly, with a consequence that the per capita food available in these places has
remained very nearly the same for the last twenty-five years. Thus it is clear that the
problern is not so much in improving the rate of food production as it is in reducing the rate
of population growth. This, also, isaproblern to which chemistry will help and contribute.
However, chemistry cannot solve the problern by itself. Nevertheless, one can expect that
chemistry will play an important role in helping to provide a feasible and useful means by
which various societies will not only be able, but willing, to heip in the control of their
own populations, thus allowing the increased food productivity which chemistry has also provided to increase the available food per person in those countries, thereby also contributing
to the increased life expectancy and the health and well-being of the people in them.
One of the ways in which chemistry has been able to improve the productivity of the agricultural community has been to provide it with the necessary fertilizers and other energyconsuming assistants, to improve the yields. This has led to a high energy consumption in
those countries in which there is a high food production, and consequently a high gross
national product, however one measures it.
ENERGY AND MATERIALS - PRESENT USE
There are various ways to examine this relationship between energy consumption and social
values. One way is shown in Fig. 4, in which the energy consumption per capita is indicated.
Here one sees that the energy consumption per capita is highest in those countries in which
the standard of living is highest, such as North America, Western Europe, and Japan, whereas
in those countries in which the standard of living (however it may be measured) is low, the
energy consumption is low.
Another, and perhaps even more real istic, way of looking at it is to examine Fig. 5, in which
we show the relationship (at least in the United States) between the value of the gross
national product produced by the country per million BTU 1 s (a unit of energy) that it uses.
lt is clear that, in general, the increased value produced per unit of energy used means a
more efficient organizational and structural entity, and this has been the case over the last
twenty-five years, as is evident in this figure. ln fact, part of the reason why the agricultural productivity in the United States has been so bounteous as to be able to be an
important aid to the rest of the world has been because of the !arge Input of energy into our
agricultural activities. This energy has had its source primarily in the form of fossil
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410
MEL VIN CAL VIN
1960
1950
Per capita
POPULATION CONSUMPTION
(MILLION) (10 6 BTUl
REGION
166.1
221.9
198.7
245.1
226.2
329.3
13.7
152.3
197.6
224.3
17.9
180.7
217.0
248.0
21.4
204.8
328.9
329.3
302.4
57.8
326.5
79.8
356.4
134.3
NORTH AMERICA
CANADA
UNITED STATES
WESTERN EUROPE
POPULATION
(MILLION)
1970
Per capita
Per capita
CONSUMPTION POPULATION CONSUMPTION
( 10 6 BTU)
(MILLION)
(10 6 BTU)
12.2
73.0
15.4
90.8
19.2
127.7
LATIN AMERICA
161.9
14.8
212.4
23.3
282.0
32.4
ASIA (EXCL.COMM.l
805.4
4.7
970.6
8.5
1231.3
16.9
82.9
722.5
21.0
2.9
93.2
877.4
39.4
5.2
103.4
1127.9
208.9
8.5
OCEANIA
JAPAN
OTHER ASIA
AFRICA
217.0
6.0
276.0
7.8
349.5
10.5
USSR 6 COMM. EAST.EUR.
269.8
47.6
312.9
83.0
348.4
128.5
180.0
89.7
46.8
49.2
214.0
98.5
83.5
82.0
242.8
105.6
131.8
120.9
569.8
2.2
677.5
9.7
795.6
14.2
30.7
2989.9
41.5
3608.6
59.4
U.S.S.R.
EASTERN EUROPE
COMMUNIST ASIA
2504.5
WORLD
FROM: ENERGY IN THE 1980's (ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDONl
World energy consumption and population.
Fig. 4.
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$9.50
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5-YEAR MOVING AVERAGE PLOTTED
AT MIDPOINTS OF PERIODS
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Fig. 5. Dollars of gross national product per million BTU, gross
energy consumption.
energy- namely coal, oll and gas. ln recent years, however, it has been dominated by oll
and gas, which are more convenient, and more environmentally acceptable energy sources than
coal. However, there is a Iimit to how much of this fossilized photosynthetic carbon is
available, and the Iimits arealready visible- especially in the oll and gas areas.
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411
Chemistry, population, resources
The next figure (Fig. 6) shows the rate of discovery of new oil in the United States as a
function of the number of feet of weil drilled. lt is evident that there has been a sharp
decrease in the rate of new discoveries, even though the drilling rate has increased. This
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decrease began in about 1950, and it is now leading to a total decrease in the net available
oil an the American mainland. lt can only mean that the available oil tobe found in this
geographical area has now passed its peak, and that we can only Iook forward to a decrease in
the total amount that we will have available from this source. ln fact, we believe that the
peak production capability in the continental United States was reached several years ago.
lt also appears to have been reached an a global scale as weil, as shown in Fig. 7.
COSTS AND AVAILABILITY
Another different way of making an estimate of the availability of resources is to Iook at
the history of the costs that have been attributed or laid down to a particular resource. ln
this case, we are considering now the fossilized photosynthetic materials: coal, oil, and gas.
ln Fig. 8, I have shown a price history of these three materials in the United States over
the last fifteen years, with a projection of what that price might be in the next four or
five years. As you can see, it was fairly constant for a period of about ten years, and then
began to rise very sharply - partly for pol itical reasons, and partly for technical reasons
of shortage.
The separation of these two factors is not possible for me. ln any case, as the price rises
the result ofthat price rise will be a more limited use of the materials, so that we must
find other ways of fulfilling our needs. We can hardly expect that the price of oil or gas
will ever fall again to anything approaching the values shown in the first ten years of this
illustrated period. There is not much question that at least part of the reason for this is
the real and total depletion of the stores of such materials that are presently in the Earth.
lf we accept for the moment the basic premise that most of this oil and gas (if not all of
it) was once the product of a I iving organism, using the sunshine as a source of energy, we
can be sure that the amount of it available to us stored in the ground is a limited amount by
the Standards that we are now using for the rate of its use. ln fact, there have been a
number of historical analyses of other resources going through a similar use and depletion
cycle, and it has been suggested that we arealready an the decaying side of the oil depletion curve. Therefore, we can expect it to be truly used up within a relatively short period
of history.
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MELVIN CALVIN
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World oil discoveries (5yr running mean) excluding U.S.S.R.,
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Fig. 8.
Average fossil fuel prices in the U.S. at point of production.
The amounts of available coal, however, are globally believed tobe much higher. ln Fig. 9,
the two resource use curves are superimposed on each other, and it is clear that the coal
resource use curve extends far beyond any Iimits of technology which we can now perceive.
lt is for this reason that many of our political Ieaders, both domestically and internationally, have supposed that we could go forward with a much !arger expectation for coal use
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we know that when coal is burned in a boiler (or any kind of combustion process, for that
matter), a much larger amount of aromatic emissions results from such a combustion process.
A somewhat easier way of expresslng the hazards involved in the use of coal is to be found in
an examination of the oil which is produced by coal liquifaction (a process which was first
used as early as World War I, used again in World War II, and which is now being proposed for
renewal), Figure 11 shows an example of one such oil produced from coal, in an experimental
plant in the United States, These plants have been designed at a Ievel of about 25,000
tons/day of coal, and it is made clear in this figure that the amount of aromatics that will
be in such an oil is very high indeed. in particular, such a plant would produce about ten
pounds of benzopyrene per day, When we remember that benzopyrene is one of the most potent
carclnogens produced in any combustion process, and that it is effective at the milligram
Ievel in producing Jung cancer, we can easily visual ize the enormous problems which such an
enhanced production of benzopyrene spread into the atmosphere might entail. As a comparison,
I have given the analysis of ordinary petroleum, which is not so rich in aromatics compared
with this particular coal oil. You can see that there is ten to twenty times as much benzopyrene in the coal oil as there is in petroleum, Of course, the benzopyrene can be removed
from this coal oil, and I daresay it will be; but the costs of doing this will affect the
uses to which that oil may be expected tobe put.
Theseare only two of the constraints that the environmental problems of coal use will place
upon us. The particulate matter that issues from a coal combustion process, and the varlous
kinds of other toxic materials which would issue in the water effluent from a coal liquifaction or gasification plant, arealso problems which will have tobe considered,
SOLAR RESDURCES
Thus, we are left with the only other alternative which would neither increase the carbon
dioxide Ievel nor enhance the carcinogen Ievel (nor produce any other environmental hazard
that we are aware of at the moment). This alternative is the use of sunshine, directly as it
comes to us, rather than using up the fossilized sunshine which constitutes the petroleum,
natural gas, and coal, and which took several hundred million years to produce. We are thus,
in a sense, living on our capital account of fossilized sunshine; and the time has now come
when we must learn how to live on the annual income of energy from the sun, which is represented by the photosynthetic process.
As an introduction to this, I would like to have you Iook at a map of the world (Fig, 12)
showing where the natural photosynthetic carbon fixation actually occurs. ln this figure you
will see that most of it occurs in the humid tropic regionsareund the equator: in the Amazon
valley, the Congo Valley, and Southeast Asia. Here the fixationrate is of the order of one
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MG qo I(UOM 9 äooq P! 9p0f11 JOM fiG äLGGU bJ9u c9b4nLG2 fiG dn9u9 9Uq fl2G2 fi91 GUGLÔA
LG11CG c9Lpou
JJJG qG492 0 fi9 C9L0U LGf1CfOU cAcJG 9LG 20MU !'- E!ä' 1 HGLG ! !2
CJG9LJA 2GGU fi9 fIG iLL2 W9OL bLoqncl o 9JJ äLGGU bJ9ui bIo1o2AufiG2!2 12 G22GU1!9J1A
c9LpopAqL9G 9Uq W024 bJ9u2 210LG W021 O fiG GUGLäA 20 c9blflLGq !U fi!2 tOLW (apoMu !U fIG
E!8 i:' bPOIO2AUfiGflC 9LPOU LGqI1CflOU CACJG
nbbGL LaJfi9uq COLUGL 04 IG c!LcJG)
i 9C fJGLG !2 9 äLG9I qG9J 0i GjiOL1 äo1uä OU
M9A2 40 COUAGL4 fi9 c9LpopAqL9IG Mp!clJ !2 fiG
bL!w9LA 21OL9äG bLoqncl O 9JJ äLGGU bJ9u2 !U10 2OWG 40LW WOLG fl2GflJ fi9U MOOq' I
!2 LflG fJ9 OUG pnuqq AG9L2 ao W02 04 fiG MOLJ 2flp221Gq OU fJ94 M00 92 9U GUGLäA
joq9A pOMGAGL OfiL 2A21GW2 9LG P!1 OU WOLG couAGu!Gu tf1GI 20(1LCG2 (92 MGJJ 92
2011LCG
WOLG COUAGU!GUI W9IGL!9J2 2OflLCG2) 2flC}J 92 Jdnq pAqLoc9Lpou2 9uq fJGL LGj9flAG2 I !2
fi!2 HUq 04 COUAGL2!OU 491 MG 9LG UOM 2GGC!Ud O W9(G
fiLonäIion
IPG MOLJ 94
fi!2 1!WG 40 uq
EU0L12 40 fl2G c9LpOpAqL9IG2 21OLGq pA bJ9ui2 9LG bGLp9b2 49LfiG21 9Jouä !U fiG C92G 04 fiG
qLGCflA GLWGU19PIG 2rla9La (2flCIJ 92 fJO2G bLoqncGq pA 2nä9L C9UG) !'- Mp!CJ C92G IIJG 2nâ9L2
C9U WWGq91GjA G COUAGLIGq !U0 9 Jdnq 4flGJ pA 9 1GLWGU191!OU 24Gb' ju Gx9wbJG o fiG
aLoM!ua 04 2f1ä9L C9UG !2 2OMU 1 E!ä JyI M}J!Cp !11fl21L91G2 9 C9UG
pG!ua bLGb9LGq OL
p9LAG2I pA 9 bLGJ!w!u9LA pt1LU o4 fiG qLGq JG9AG2 MP!CP M!JJ 9JJ0M 40L fiG GU4LA 0J fiG jJ9L—
AG2GL2 (GIfJGL bGobJG OL W9CP!UG2)' 1P!2 2Gb 2GGW2 O pG flUIAGL29J !U fiG J9LäG 2C9JG p9L—
AG2qUä 04 2flä9L C9UG 9Uq ! 2GGW2 10 LGbLG2GUI 9 2flp219UI!91 J022 O W9IGL!9J' IIGAGLfiG—
JG22 COU2qGL9pJG bLoäLG22 92 GGU W9G !U fiG qGAGJObWGUI O4 2flä9L C9UG 92 9 2OflLCG O
4J1GJ 9JCOFJOJ uq 9JCOOJ J94 w!äJI
fl2G 92 9 29L1!uä bo!u 40L CPGW!C91 bLocG22!uä
po
jG G22GU!9J
G
4L9U2iOLW9!OU !2 2IJOMLJ !U E! 1? !U M}J!cp ! !2 9bb9LGUI 91 WG COUAGL2!OU
2nä9L o Jdnq OLW !UAOIAG2 9 j022 OL LGqrlcflou Oi MGJ1 pA OUG-tJ9J M!14J
Ofl JG COUCOW!49U1 J022 04 9UA 2flp249U1!9] 9WOflU4 O GUGLäA .LIJfl2 190 aL9w2 04 2flä9L M!11
bLoqncG 9P0111 o äL9W2 04 9jCOOJ 9Uq ! M!I1 LG49!U OAGL
O JG GUGLäA COU4GU Oi JG
2flô9L !U JG bLocG22
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Unauthenticated
Download Date | 6/18/17 3:31 AM
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cpemcA bobn1çroiJ €oiuce
g1a jI
2na9L pflLUa
bflGLl0 LflcO'
Ce HISOe
S C5H2OH + S CO5
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44JG C9LpnLGOL (MIJ!cp W!CLOUG2 JG 9jc0p0j) 9Uq pG tUL9cG w9uojq fl2U 1JG JG91 O 1JG
cool 1uä M9GL JLOW qJG Guä!uG pJOC( 40 A9bOL!SG JG 9jCOOj
riCJ GualuGa FJ9AG
GGU P!I (b9Lflcnj9LjA !U BL9!I)' 9Uq 9LG fl2Gq p04p OL WOIOL C9L2 9uq 40L J9LAG2nUa
W9CP!UGLA
U wA OMU GXbGL!GUCG 2flC 9 WOIOL C9L 26GW2 O LflU 1n21 92 MGJJ oi. bGLp9b2
GAGU pGGL J9U OUG Lnuu!ua OU ä92o1!uG• jG oujA
2GGW2 40 G J91 ILJG OUG LrlU—
uLuä ou 9JCOJOI 2WGJJ2 pGGL'
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Download Date | 6/18/17 3:31 AM
MELVIN CALVIN
418
ALCOHOL
A more important use for alcohol, perhaps, is as a raw material or a beginning feedstock for
the petrochemical industry. This intercalation is shown in Fig. 16, in which the present
raute to ethylene from naptha is illustrated, as weil as the corresponding raute from sugar
to ethylene, as the crossing point or point of entry, into the petrochemical industry. The
availability of a substantial pool of alcohol in the !arge sugar growing countries of the
world (such as Brazil, and perhaps the Philippines) may very weil induce a number of chemical
companies to build alcohol crackers to make ethylene, in place of their naptha crackers from
petroleum, which is becoming increasingly unavailable.
Refining _,........NA PTHA
PETROLEUM--.....;.+
~HEAVIER
OILS
Extractlon
C NE
'
A BAGASSE
{ CELLULOSE}
LIGNIN
J
CANE
JUICE
•
BUTANOL
ETHANOL
-10% Aq.
ETHYL
CHLORIDE
GLYCERINE
CHEMICALS
CITRIC, ACONITIC ACIDS, etc.
POWER
OTHERS
FOOD
Fig. 16.
Renewable resource for chemieals
Thus, we have a raute from the carbohydrate (the primary storage product of most plants) to
the hydrocarbon material, which is the raw material of the petrochemical industry. However,
this raute is limited to those places in which fermentable sugars can be readily and cheaply
ln many parts of the world thls cannot be done. lnstead, the storage product is
produce~.
in the form of cellulose. This would require a preliminary hydrolysis of cel lulose to fermentable glucose before the alcohol fermentation could occur. There is a great deal of work
going an in the United States and Western Europe (and probably in Northern Europe, as weil)
toward this end. lt is very likely that this work will meet with considerable success, and
thus present a new resource for the temperate regions of the world in the form of the ability
of these regions to produce cellulosic materials, as a starting point for the kind of petrochemical industry to which we have become accustomed. However, those plants, as a general
rule, which are very competent carbohydrate producers also require the kind of land that can
also be used for food production; therefore, the competition between food production and
materials production by these routes might begin. This seems to me to be an undesirable competition, in view of the food requirements of the world. Therefore, we have set about to
find other ways than this one to flll the need for hydrocarbon.
HYDROCARBONS
Let me remind you of the photosynthetic carbon cycle, which I showed you in Fig. 13. While
it is true, as shown in that flgure, that most of the plants with whlch we are normally
familiar store their solar energy in the form of reduced carbon (carbohydrate), there da
exist a number of plants which can store this energy, in substantial amounts, in the form of
Unauthenticated
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CJGW11LA
bobnjror
9 WOLG tflJjA LG11CG C9L0U (2ncp 92 pAqLOC9LpOUy J.IJG OUG2 fi91 91.6 W021 COWWOUJA 1<UOMU 10
jGLG !2 OUG W91OL L1IGL bJ9Ui
cowWGLc!9] cLob 9LG fIG L1GL bJ9U2 04 fIG MOLJq
.LIJG W9l0L 0UG 0 CO11L2G 12 HGAG9
9U OUG W!UOL 0UG MCp 12 L9bqJA L!2!Ua !U !WbOL9UCG
pL92!J!GU2!2 40L M!C 9]] fiG bJ9u9!ou2 GX!21 OU 9 ]9LÔG 2C9JG LU 20flfiG921 V2!9 bLIw9L—
E!äflLG X 12 9 b!cnLG 0i 9 9bbGq L11PPGL LGG U BL9h]'
hA LU W919A2!9 uq uqouG29
fiGA 1001< AGLA WnCp fiG 29WG 9]] OA6L fiG MOLJq jG ]946X fi91 AOtl 266 LI1UU!Ua 0114 04 fiG
Aon 92
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049 pAqLOC9LpOU LU M9IGL U MPICP fiG W0]GC11]9L MG!äP1 0 fiG pAqLOC9LpOU !2 WI1CIJ 2UJ9JJGL 04 fiG 0LGL 04 IGU 40 IMGUIA fiOfl29Uq' jU fi!2 C92G MGU fIG 0J 9Uq M94GL 91.6 2Gb9L94Gq
4L0W fiG GWII121OUa fiG LG211119U1 pAqLOC9LpOU fi91 LGW9LU2 12 uoi p GUOIlap 10 G 9 2o]q
LI1ppGLA W94GL!9] P11C L9fiGL 12 9 Jdf1q OIJA W9GL!9] C0U21211Uä 0i 9 AGLA cowb]Gx W!X111LG
JJJG2G b1gua iOMGAGL IGUq 40 aLoM 40L fiG W021 b9L U fiG
W9!UJA 04 LG11CG C9LPOU 910W2
pnwq L0b1C2 9U MG 29M W9UA Oi 141GW 92 MG WOAG qOMU fiG \fW9OU !U 0111. 2G9LC 40L 0!]
HGAG9
bLoqr1cuä bJ9uj2
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fiG 9Lq LGä!OU2 O fiG E9Lfi yu Gx9Wb]G o ancp bJ9u1 fi9 bLoqncG2 9 ]9LäG pAqLo—
C9LO LIIppGLA !u CP9L9C1GL !2 fiG MG] ]CU0MU äfl9ArljG bjur C119A11J6 !2 9 1JJGWGL O1 fiG
C0wbO2!9G 9W!JA 9Uq âLOM2 !u fiG G2Gi2 o IlOLipGLu wGx!co 9uq fiG 2O11fiMG21GLU flUIGq
!
bjui M!1P f!2 pGIJ9A!OL (p9 !2 bJ9ui2 MpICp conjq G
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äLOMU U fiG 9Lq 9Uq fiG 2GW9Lq b9Lia 0 fiG MoLjq) conjq pG oriuq Mp!cp bLoqncG J!äpGL
01. JOMGL WOJGCflJ9L MG!äP1 pAqL0C9Lp0U2 IPGU MG w!ä1i4 9AG 9 qLGCI 2O11LCG oj bpoIo2Au4pG_
c9jJA bLoqrlcGq pAqLoc9Lpou2 MIflCP MOnjq uoi G
u cowbGqou
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nIc!W9GIA p€ L6dnLGq 4L ooq bLoqnc1ov
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29A9UU92 91.6 JJfl24L9Iq 9uq q2Lpn1Gq C0AGL!ua pOJ L4JG WOLJGLU uq 2Ofl1PGLU HGW!2bP6LG2
uq ucJnquâ pG 2or11pM6GLu b9L o 1p6 flu1Gq 291G2 2OflPGLU VL!C9 Vfl2L9J!9a uq
2OflW VWGL!C9
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!q 0j 9 aLoMp
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r1EriuI4
E! 19
CVMM
Cn9AnJ 29JflJi0 WGx!co•
E!ä j jop9j wsb 2p0M!ua 2Gw_9Lq 9uq 29A9uu9 LGa!ou2
U 2OflfJGLU
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äLOM MJq 9Uq M!C
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C9i!t01U!9 MG 9AG onuq g UflWGL Oi WGWGL2 04 JG aGun2 nbpoLp9 Mp!Cp
Download Date | 6/18/17 3:31 AM
CPGWt24L) boBnTrou L62OflLCG2
?W!I9LIAa jouô JG 2OflPGLU C092C O bflGLO COb MG 9AG
2GGU 9UO4JGL äLOflb o b19u12 äLoM!uä 9j20 04 JG EflbPOLP!9 aGun2• E!aflLG SO-V 2OM2 OUG 04
9LJq MGLI MG b6LcGq
WGW ERbPOLP
Mifli 9 (U!G JG 4J0M 04 J946X M92 6AqGU
9LG bLo1jc bLoqncGLe 04 J9GX
E!ä' OY EflbPOLP!9
2poM!ua JOM O J9GX
O bfl6LO flCO !2 9 L6J9!A6JA 9Lq L6a!OLS 92 2OMU !U E!a' o- 9tiq w!apc
JJJG 2Ofl4J
G COUqGLGq 19!LIA LGbLG2Gu9IAG O JG J9LäGL Gw.9Lq LGä!0U2 04 JG MOLJ 2OMU !U JG
bLGAor12 W9b
E!ä O-B EI1bIJOLP!9 jg.çeg 2o1P Co1 1: bflGL0 LflC0
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 6/18/17 3:31 AM
HEAfl1 CVAIk1
EflbP0LP!9 1!LflC9JJ! WG
W9UA OJGL bJ9u2 O JG 29WG äGUn2 aLoM !U 2!W!J9L C!LCnW249UCG2
MGJJ—t(UOMU VL!C9U WJ<pn2pa aLOM2 AGLA MGJJ !U 2OIUPGLU C9JR0LU!9 9uq COflJq AGLA J!GJA G
HOMGAGL pG!ua 9 MOL44JGLU C9JHOLU!9Ua
qGAGJObGq 92 9 J94GX_bLOqnCua ILGG 92 MGJJ
M92
2GGua bJ9u2 M!C w!ap G aLOMU !U JG 2OWGM9 9L2GL CJ!W9G 9L1GL MOLJ' JU 49CI
MG onuq 9 WGWGL 04 JG aGun2 Eflbu0LP!9 IJ9 aLOM2 AGLA MGJJ !U MOL4PGLU C9JR0LU!9 9J 9
MG 9AG UqGGq pGäflU
b!CIflLG 04 ! !2 2OMU !U E!ä' SJ' I !2 fUOMU 92 EflbP0LP!9 J9I4JAL],2
E!ä 5J
jbJoLp!9 f91pALi2 20n11J C0921 GJq 29!OU
b}JOLpf9 J9JAL2 C9U G aLoMu 9UUfl9JJA
40 qGGLWUG JG äLOM4p L94G 04 1P!2 bj9ur jjJG
4LOW 2GG uq 9LAG21Gq U WI1C}J JG 29WG M9A 14J9_2flä9L C9UG !2 JJ9LAG21Gq 92 ObbO2Gq 10 JG
LGG2 (EnbpoLp!92 JGIG 9Uq 1!LflC9JJ!) q2Cn22Gq G9LJ!GL 1'-' MuICu JG OJ MOI1Jq 9AG 10 pG
J9LAG2IGq pA 9 49bb!Ud (OL 91 JG AGLA JG924 9 WOM!Uä) obGL9!ou
9uq ! Uqc9G2 flJ94 MG
IPG äLOMJ q919 ou JG EflbPOLP!9 J9cuALJ2 !2 2OMU ! E!a'
GXbGCI 10 0p19!U M!flJ COU4GUCG Uo1 JG22 J9U 2!x P9LLGJ2 o o!J\9cLG\AG9L' JjJ2 MOflJq pG
lP!2 !2' 04 COflL2G MlJOfl uA 9aLOuOW!C C9LG OL 2GJGC9Ofl 4!GGU P9LLGJ2\PGCI9LG\AG9L
ou o bju 91 9JJ'
4 COWG2 4L0W 9 MJ 2GG 9Uq 1P!2 !2 JG t!L2 bJ9ui!uä O
BG9L!Ud !U wuq J9 MG 9LG 2GGquä !u
UL24 !u29ucG 9 LGbJ9CGWGUI 40L JG bGLo-
CPGW!C9J 4GGq2OC<2 L9JGL 44J9U 2OJGJA 9 JflGJ fl2G MG Wfl24 UOM JG9LU wncp WOLG 9p0fl1 4[JG
9AG 1fl21 qG2—
cpGw!c9J cowbo2!!ou o 4pG JAqLoc9Lpou W!XP1LG2 04 flJG2G EflbuOLp!92
MG 9AG pGänu i0 qo IP!2 uq E!ä 5 2OM2 9U 9U9jA2!2 OJ JG 2GLOJ coulGul2 O4 9
I9PJG j 1}JG LG191!AG 9WOflU12 ot obGu_cp9!u boJA!2obLGuG GLG
A9L!GIA O jbpOLp!92
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luG LGJ9I!AG 9WOflU12 OJ 21GL0J2
qG2âu9jGq 92 LflGL 9LG cowb9LGq M!flJ JG 2IGLOJ C01J1GU1
9LG 9J20 2OMU !U 9 MqGL 2GJGCflOUa MP!CP 9J20 uCJnqG2 9U 9U9JA2!2 O än9AI1JG uq HGAG9
W024 O4 JG2G J9GXG2 9J20 COU9!U 9 U11WGL O IGLbGUG2 92 MGJJ fl4 MG 9AG uo 9U9JAGq
4ZOL JGW
E!U9JJ !U E!ä' Sy M9U 10 2OM cowb9L!2ou 04 1}JG
WOJGCflJ9L MG!äIJ42 Ot IIJG
LflGL
COW
bouGu 04 9 äGUn!UG LflGL bJ9u 211C 92 HGAG9 U HGAG9 flJG WOJGCIIJ9L MG!äpl q21Lpfl4OU
!2 2OMU O pG pwoq9J M!IJ 9 bG9tc 91 9J_9 W!JJ!OU 9Uq 9UOJGL OUG 9j 4M0 W!JJ!OU 92 COW—
b9LGq o 2!w!19L äGJ bGLwG9I!ou C}JLOW9IOäL9W OU JG JOM WOJGCflJ9L MG!äP1 O pAqLOC9LpOU2
4IiG bG9< !2 2OWGMGLG !U WG A!C!U!4A ø;
Op19UGq 4L0W 9UOflJGL EflbFJ0LP!9
HGLG Aon 2GG
IMGUIA flJOfl29U uq !2 2!äu!4!C9uCG pGAOUq J91 !2 WOO1 .LPG oujA J!uä MG C9U 29A M!J
COUJjGUCG 9Ofl J!2 CflLAG !2 flJ91 JG WOJGCI1J9L MG!aJ1 q2Lpn1ou !U W021 O 1JG OJGL
jbpOLp92 (O 1JG obGu_cp9!u boJA!2obLGuG2) !2 COU2qGL9pJA. 2W9JJGL 9uq JGA bG9 2OWGMGLG
9LOflU JG GU JOfl29Uq WOJGCI1J9L MG!äp L9uäG'
MOM JG dnG24!ou !2 91W021 CGL9!U O pG !U AonL WLJq2 92 O }JOM WnCp OL 9 M91 C0212
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Chemistry, population, resources
423
140
Fig. 22.
Growth rate, Euphorbia lathyrus, 1977.
STERYL ACETATE
E. coerulescens
~·. ~~~::
01 Lanosterol
3. Tirucallol
4. Lanosterol
5. Isomer of Lanosterol
6.
7.
B.
9.
10.
II.
Euphorbol
,8-Amyrin
Cycloartenol
a-Amyrin
24-Methylene cycloartanol
Unknown
IJJ
cn
z
~
cn
IJJ
0::
0::
IJJ
0
0::
&.
obtusifolia
0
0
IJJ
0::
0
10
20
30
40
50
TIME(mlnl
Fig. 23.
GLC of Euphorbiaceae steroids.
planting and measuring arestill underway. Wehave planted an annual, which I have mentioned
earlier (Euphorbia Jathyris), and this plant is giving us at least a clue as to the amount of
oil we can expect from this particular Euphorbia. Wehave also put in a planting of
Euphorbia tirucalli, which will grow tobe~ tre~, and of Euphorbia lactea, which will also
be a tree, or bush-like plant. The harvest1ng t1me for these two 1s cons1derably Jonger,
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424
MELVIN CALVIN
TABLE I
Sterals and polyisoprenes from Euphorbiacae latPX
% of Dry Latex (w/w) 1
SPECIES
RELATIVE AMOUNTS OF STEROLS
Ratio
(R/S)
Sterol
Rubber
A
Euphorbia aphylla
Euphorbia arbuscula
Euphorbia balsamifera
B
c
. 37
1.0
4
93
0.04
I
75
0.01
D
E
F
G
.10
.82
1.0
.46
I
H
J
.19
1.0
Euphorbia bupleurifolia
• 13
, Euphorbia characias
Euphorbia coerulescens
Euphorbia cylindrifolia
1.0
. 10
1.0
.25
1.0
.68
.50
Euphorbia globosa
. 30
Euphorbia ingens
8
78
0.10
Euphorbia lathyris
3
50
0.06
• 12
.80
.50
Euphorbia DLB:rlothii
.69
Euphorbia obtusifolia
.05
Euphorbia sp. (American)
1.0
• 34
Euphorbia stenoclada
Euphorbia lactea
Achras sapote
Asclepias sp. (Brazil)
1.0
.16
0.02
1.0
.10
1.5
76
0.02
1.0
1.0
.66
. 32
1.0
• 17
.61
.16
. 20
14
66
0.21
1.0
.20
( 12)
(72)
0.17
1.0
.20
3.5
31
0.11
1.0
.20
1.0
87
1.0
.50
. 29
.20
. 35
87 .o·
I
Synadenium grantii
KEY:
1.0
1.0
1.0
50
Guayule
Hevea brasiliensis2
• 32
I
Elaeophorbia drupifera
Asclepias sp. (USA)
. 30
1.0
. 41
Euphorbia misera
Euphorbia tirucalli
.27
.20
1.0
A Euphol
B Tirucallol
C Euphorbol
D Lanosterol
E Lanosterol isomer
F Cycloartenol
G 24-Methylene cycloartonol
H n-Amyrin
I ß-Amyrin
J Other pentacyclics
I These numbers were estimated on the basis of NMR spectra (60 m Hz, CDC I ) of the benzene and
acetone extracts.
2 Identified sterols are
-sitosterol, fucosterol and stigmasternl (1.0, .SO and .25 respectively)
HO
HO
A
HO
Euphol
8
Tirucallol
C Euphorbol
y
HO
HO
D
HO
Lanosterol
F
Cycloa rtenol
G 24-Methylene cycloa rt anol
E
HO
Other Pentacycl ics
HO
H
a-AMYRIN
Lanosterol isomer
I fJ
-AMYRIN
HO
HO
fJ-Sitosterol
Stigmasterol
Unauthenticated
Fucosterol
Download Date | 6/18/17 3:31 AM
425
Chemistry, population, resources
Q)
u
c:
0
"0
H. brasiliensis
..:
::1
.0
<l
Molecular weight (polystyrene standardsl
Flg. 24, Molecular weight distributions of polyisoprenes isolated from
H. brasil iensis and E. tirucalli.
and therefore I cannot really give you any substantial Information yet about the ylelds we
may expect from these tree-like plants.
However, using what data we have on the Euphorbia lathyris, the annual plant, we do come out
with some yield numbers which I have already given you, and also with some cost numbers,
which are very rough, to be sure. But it Iooks as though we could make this complex mixture
of hydrocarbons (as obtained from Euphorbia lathyris or the other Euphorblas) at. a price of
about $10.00 to $15.00 per barrel of oil in the field; and another $10.00 per barre! would be
required to take the oll from the plant and put it in the barre!. So we are talking about a
price of crude oll, a mixture of hydrocarbons, of the order of $20.00 per barre!. Thls price
is not far from our present one of $13.00 or $14.00, and we know that this present prlce, for
crude oll from the ground, will rise. Thus, it seems to me tobe entirely posslble that we
may lndeed be able to return to a current income account for our hydrocarbons needed for
materials, as a resource, lt may even be possible in some cases to use them as a fuel, as
well. And this, in turn, will help solve the problems we indicated earlier which are limiting our productivlty, both in agriculture (2) and in matertals for the welfare of manklnd,
Acknowledgement - The work described in this paper was sponsored, in part, by the
Divisions of Physical Research, and of Biomedical and Environmental Research, of the
U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration.
REFERENCES
1.
Thomas McKeown, The Modern Rise of Population, Academic Press, New York (1976),
2.
James A. Bassham, Science
~.
630-638 (1977).
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 6/18/17 3:31 AM