IDTechEx Asks if Greener CO2-derived Chemicals can Accelerate CCUS Uptake

BOSTON, April 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The chemical sector alone is responsible for 2% of global anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, and the industry depends heavily on finite fossil fuel feedstocks. The new IDTechEx report, "Carbon Dioxide Utilization 2024-2044: Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players", explores how captured CO₂ could be utilized as a feedstock for hundreds of different chemicals instead. Valorizing waste carbon dioxide has already proven profitable in the chemicals industry for polycarbonate polymers. Overall, IDTechEx forecasts revenue from CO₂-derived polymers and other drop-in chemicals will exceed US$47 billion in 2044.

Why is CO₂ utilization in chemical production important?

Carbon capture is viewed as a key technology for achieving net-zero goals as it can decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors. However, carbon capture technologies are expensive, and regulatory pressure to decarbonize remains weak worldwide. If captured carbon can be utilized to make profitable chemical products, this revenue stream can provide an economic incentive to accelerate the uptake of CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage) technologies until legislation that promotes CO₂ storage emerges.

While many CO₂-derived chemicals do not always represent net-negative or net-zero products, they do still represent reductions in emissions compared to the fossil fuel-based status quo and should not be overlooked as a decarbonization tool.

For more information on capturing CO₂, particularly for hard-to-abate sectors such as cement, please refer to the "Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) Markets 2023-2043" market intelligence report.

CO₂ utilization in chemicals is already profitable

Utilizing captured CO₂ to make chemicals is not a far-fetched fantasy. Profitable production of CO₂-derived polymers has quietly been around for decades. One of the pioneers was Asahi Kasei, which commercialized a process making aromatic polycarbonates from waste CO₂ in 2002. Since then, the total annual production capacity of polycarbonate resin using this technology has reached about 1 million tonnes.

Similarly, Aramco Performance Materials has developed polycarbonate polyols ('Converge' polyols) containing up to 40% CO₂, which can be used in industrial applications, including coatings and foams. In January 2024, Aether Industries, H.B. Fuller, and Saudi Aramco Technologies announced the commercialization of these polyols. Moreover, German materials company Covestro uses CO₂ to produce polycarbonate and isocyanate (polyurethane precursor), and UK-based Econic Technologies recently unveiled new technology for memory foam mattresses based on captured CO₂ emissions.