The electrically-powered synthesis of ethylene for the chemical industry

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Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is an urgent global challenge. There is currently a lack of economicincentive to capture industrial emissions as there is little value in the captured CO2. However, as renewableelectricity capacity continues to increase in scale while dropping in price, there exists an enormous opportunityto use clean electricity to convert CO2 into products of value using electrocatalysis. Electrocatalysis enables thesynthesis of conventionally fossil-derived chemicals from CO2 feedstock; however, existing systems exhibitpoor performance and are not competitive with incumbent technologies.We will develop new catalyst materials and systems to achieve high selectivity and efficiency for renewableethylene production. Ethylene is one of the most important petrochemicals in the world and has a market sizeof approximately $200B.This project will result in a process for the renewable electricity-powered synthesis of ethylene that iseconomically competitive with conventional fossil-derived methods. This will help Canada reach itsgreenhouse gas emission goals by providing a path towards decarbonization of the petrochemicals industry andenabling the uptake of renewable electricity and carbon capture technologies.This proposal was developed jointly with the industrial partners: TOTAL, a major integrated oil and gascompany headquartered in Paris, France having significant operations in Montreal; and also with its subsidiary,Hutchinson, an aerospace and materials company based in Montreal. Our goal was to ensure relevance of theproject to Canadian industry, and specifically to ensure that the technology is compatible withTOTAL/Hutchinson's petrochemical operations.