A new path for CO2
The CO2 to Chemicals Platform represents Braskem's efforts to provide new alternatives for destination of carbon dioxide emissions from the company's industrial units.
Fossil fuels are currently the basis of the global energy matrix, and the significant volume of CO2 emissions produced from burning these fuels is one of the key causes of the greenhouse effect and climate change.
But how can global warming and its drastic effects on the planet be contained?
One of Braskem's commitments in tackling climate change is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. This is why we're investing on different fronts: reducing emissions, expanding the portfolio of products from renewable sources and also capturing and using CO2 (Carbon Capture and Utilization - CCU) as raw material for the production of various chemicals and polymers.
CO2 to Chemicals Platform
At Braskem, projects to develop technological routes for capturing and using CO2 and studies on CO2 storage are combined in the CO2 to Chemicals platform.
"There's a lot of potential here. Innovation and technology in the chemical area are central elements in overcoming today's major challenges. Turning CO2 into a product is clearly one of these challengesdue to the impact that such an innovation can generate," stated Márcio Rebouças, who is responsible for Braskem's CO2 to Chemicals Platform.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) in a Special Report on CO2 Capture, Use and Storage (2020), CCUS technologies are estimated to contribute to approximately 15% reduction in CO2 emissions on the global level - a key step in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Márcio added, "Providing a new destination for CO2 emitted in Braskem's units means broadening our outlook on the circularity of the waste from our operations. Part of our sustainable development strategy is to make consistent progress on CCU technologies to achieve meaningful results in reducing emissions, acting in a complementary way with Braskem's other initiatives and priorities to meet our sustainability targets. Through the CO2 to Chemicals Platform, our goal is to make a relevant contribution towards Braskem's commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050, in conjunction with other ongoing solutions."
Ongoing projects
Although a more recent initiative, CO2 capture, utilization and storage is gaining momentum and support globally due to its potential for directly helping to reduce emissions from industrial sources or to remove CO2 from the atmosphere, an alternative to balance the emissions that are most difficult to avoid.
At Braskem, to reach the current pipeline of the CO2 to Chemicals platform, which includes many CCU projects at different stages of maturity and levels of complexity, over 200 initiatives have already been analyzed under the technical, economic, and environmental scope, as well as the relationship between these results with Braskem's business strategy and sustainable development.
One example is the partnership with the american startup Compact Membrane Systems (CMS), which is starting the scale up of their lab phase technology and is focused on a new approach for capturing CO2 through the use of their proprietary membranes.
Braskem's collaboration with the University of Illinois (UIC) is in the final phase of laboratory scale, and planning for the next phase is under evaluation. In this case, the scope is the capture of CO2 from flue gases and direct convert it to ethylene and other chemicals.
In another project, with the startup New Iridium, the objective is to study and develop an innovative photocatalytical route, which uses light sources (e.g.: LEDs) to convert CO2 into different carboxylic acids.
In Brazil, a partnership with the University of São Paulo (USP) through the Research Center for Innovation in Greenhouse Gases (RCGI), and with the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar), is studying novel and innovative catalytic and electrocatalytic routes for converting CO2 into chemical products, such as olefins and alcohols. Through this new project, Braskem has expanded its activities within the academic area, fostering research with renowned educational institutions in Brazil.
Regarding Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), most technologies are currently in advanced stages of development and implementation. To achieve success in this field it is quite important that partnerships are established among industries to develop CO2 storage hubs, similarly what is being proposed in countries such as United States. In Brazil, Braskem has been working to identify short-term joint opportunities with other industries to implement similar models that have been implemented in other regions.
In addition to these projects, Braskem is participating in other initiatives in different regions throughout the world, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and others. "For a project to be successful and grow in scale, we need a combination of success factors related to the consumption and source of the energy involved in the process, selectivity to the product of interest, efficiency of the CO2 molecule use, and other requirements," Márcio pointed out. "We have excellent projects underway with significant advances in achieving results for CO2 capture and conversion, although some developments are still in the early stages." He concluded, "We're focused on continuing to foster and develop cutting-edge research with our partners globally."
