The electrically-powered synthesis of ethylene for the chemical industry

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is an urgent global challenge. There is currently a lack of economic incentive to capture industrial emissions as there is little value in the captured CO2. However, as renewable electricity capacity continues to increase in scale while dropping in price, there exists an enormous opportunity to use clean electricity to convert CO2 into products of value using electrocatalysis. Electrocatalysis enables the synthesis of conventionally fossil-derived chemicals from CO2 feedstock; however, existing systems exhibit poor performance and are not competitive with incumbent technologies. We will develop new catalyst materials and systems to achieve high selectivity and efficiency for renewable ethylene production. Ethylene is one of the most important petrochemicals in the world and has a market size of approximately $200B. This project will result in a process for the renewable electricity-powered synthesis of ethylene that is economically competitive with conventional fossil-derived methods. This will help Canada reach its greenhouse gas emission goals by providing a path towards decarbonization of the petrochemicals industry and enabling the uptake of renewable electricity and carbon capture technologies. This proposal was developed jointly with the industrial partners: TOTAL, a major integrated oil and gas company 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 the project to Canadian industry, and specifically to ensure that the technology is compatible with TOTAL/Hutchinson's petrochemical operations.