Braskem, US university research route to make ethylene from CO2

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Braskem announced on Monday a research partnership with the University of Illinois at Chicago to develop a way to make ethylene from carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from the flue gas of industrial plants.

The resulting ethylene would be used to make polyethylene (PE), the world’s most widely used plastic and one that is made by Braskem.

To develop the system, the team at the university will rely on its experience with the electrochemical reduction of CO2, said Meenesh Singh, a professor responsible for the project at the university. This will be combined with technology that is being patented to capture CO2 from flue gas.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that the world’s chemical industry will emit more than 1.5bn tonnes of CO2 in 2020.