United States – A cutting-edge Carbon Capture and Transformation (CCT) business, LanzaTech, has developed specialized biocatalysts that continuously manufacture ethylene from CO2.
This development in bacterial bio-engineering from LanzaTech could help the company move closer to its goal of using waste carbon instead of fossil-based feedstocks to make common consumer goods.
Every year, about 160 million tons of ethylene are produced. It is currently generated primarily using fossil fuels in an energy-intensive reaction that emits CO2 gas, making it the most frequently used petrochemical in the world. This innovation has the potential to change this paradigm by using CO2 as a resource to create ethylene in a continuous, low-temperature, energy-efficient process.
The production of many of the plastics, detergents, and coatings that keep hospitals sterile, people safe, and food fresh requires the use of ethylene, which is a fundamental component of thousands of chemicals and materials. One of the chemical industry’s biggest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions, its production method is also one of the hardest to decarbonize.
Sustainable option
Chemical businesses and producers who use ethylene as their principal feedstock are looking for a more reliable and sustainable option in a post-pollution future due to rising pressure to discover carbon-neutral alternatives to fossil-based feedstocks and achieve net-zero obligations. By taking ethanol created from carbon emissions and turning it into ethylene, LanzaTech has already manufactured ethylene through the indirect ethanol process. This most recent innovation skips this conversion phase in the manufacturing of sustainable ethylene, making the procedure less energy-intensive and more effective.
