The Carbon Element – the Good, the Bad and the Ugly | European Chemical Society

With the release of the updated version of the EuChemS Periodic Table, the European Chemical Society aims to keep drawing attention to the scarcity of elements, which is a global problem that affects all of us. In particular the change in the colour of carbon shows the increasing challenges that we are facing with greenhouse gas production, which are far from being solved.

The main change to the EuChemS Periodic Table is to convert the colour of carbon from the benign green colour to a tricolour of green, red and dark grey.

• Green because it is plentifully available in the form of carbon dioxide (too plentiful), carbonate rocks and vegetation.
• Red because it will very shortly cause serious problems if we do nothing to restrict its use.
• Grey because it can come from conflict resources.