A major R&D project has demonstrated that carbon captured from industrial emissions can be transformed into sustainable household products – marking a major step towards a circular economy. But more support is still needed for projects like this which aim to help the chemical industry find more sustainable sources for the carbon it needs.
The Flue2Chem partners are BASF, Carbon Clean, CCU International, CPI - part of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the Confederation of Paper Industries, Croda, Holmen Iggesund, Johnson Matthey, LanzaTech, P&G, Reckitt, SCI, Tata Steel, Unilever, UPM, the University of Sheffield and the University of Surrey.
Launching the Flue2Chem Final Report in Westminster, at an event hosted by Viscount Stansgate, on 17 June, attendees heard that while industry was committed to taking the steps needed to support the goal of the UK’s defossilisation, government support was now essential.
“The chemistry works, the collaboration has been groundbreaking, and the industry is ready to move,” said Sharon Todd, CEO of SCI, one of the collaborators on the project. “Now we need the right policy framework to unlock investment and enable the UK to lead in sustainable materials manufacturing.”
The report concludes that while the project proved the chemistry was technologically feasible, carbon capture and utilisation for chemical production faces economic challenges that require policy support to overcome.
The Flue2Chem Final Report concludes that current costs of the technologies means they will need policy support or incentives. The report highlights the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Mandate as a model that provides the right fiscal and regulatory environment for the development and use of SAFs and said that something similar could work in chemicals. “Public and market recognition of renewable chemicals must grow. Consumer demand and policy incentives are both needed to drive adoption and reduce the green premium,” the report states. This green premium currently means that chemicals produced using the route designed by Flue2Chem would have to be sold at two to five times the current market price to be profitable.
The report also highlights the necessity for an integrated green hydrogen supply chain as well as the expansion of UK pilot-scale facilities to support domestic R&D and accelerate commercial readiness. “The high cost of green hydrogen is the main economic barrier,” the report notes.
Congratulating the collaborators Professor Paul Monks, Chief Scientific Advisor for the UK government Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said that the “unprecedented industry collaboration” showed that no one organisation had all the answers and there was “no single solution for driving sustainability.” Monks added: “There are a number of challenges, these include raising awareness of what can be done, but tools do need to be put in place to assist in the transition to greater sustainability,” Monks noted.
The Flue2Chem final report can be downloaded here.
Further reading:
• Flue2Chem: SCI, Unilever and 13 partners launch £5.4m net zero collaboration project
• Flue2Chem: initiative to make products from CO2 begins
• Flue2Chem: Ayrshire papermill leads early stage of ground-breaking project to recycle carbon emissions into household detergent
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