IDTechEx Asks if Greener CO2-derived Chemicals can Accelerate CCUS Uptake - Seite 2

High CO₂ prices can be tolerated using these methods, and players have reported improved material performance. However, the product volumes and the CO₂ utilization ratio in polymer manufacturing are relatively small, limiting its CO₂ utilization potential. Production growth is, therefore, likely to continue to be driven by superior performance instead of CCUS regulation or voluntary carbon credits.

The existing routes to CO₂-derived polymers and polymer precursors all generally rely on the same simple chemical idea: break as few strong carbon and oxygen bonds in CO₂ as possible. This non-reductive approach results in a lower energy demand and, crucially, no clean hydrogen requirements.

The hydrogen bottleneck

But what about making chemicals containing many hydrogen-to-carbon bonds? Currently, clean hydrogen production is expensive and can raise costs significantly compared to fossil-based chemicals. Green hydrogen economics are only expected to improve significantly in the 2030s (driven by reductions in the price of renewable energy and improvements in electrolyzer technology), but chemical production from captured CO₂ and H₂ should not be written off completely in 2024.

For the full portfolio of hydrogen research from IDTechEx, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/Research/Energy.

One innovative approach is to utilize captured industrial emissions that already contain CO₂ and hydrogen (such as steel mill off-gases). CO₂-derived ethanol producer, LanzaTech, already has several commercial plants using this very approach. Such sources of waste hydrogen have been crucial for scaling up CO₂-derived chemicals in the short term. Another example is Carbon Recycling International's first commercial-scale emission-to-liquids plant, which used hydrogen emitted from coke production to create CO₂-derived methanol.

High-value diamonds and nanotubes represent future application areas

Pure carbon products such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and carbon nanofibers have promising applications in construction, energy storage, consumer electronics, water filters, and fuel cells. Typically manufactured via chemical vapor deposition of hydrocarbon gases, the low conversion efficiency and high cost of this approach has inspired ongoing research into alternative synthesis pathways.