Greenhouse Gases Are Being Converted into Raw Materials

At a major conference held in Aachen, Germany, scientists from around the world discussed how CO2 could make the chemical industry less dependent on petroleum. The five-day meeting again demonstrated the considerable potential of this subject.

For example, carbon dioxide from industrial exhaust gases and even from the atmosphere can be used to produce high-quality chemicals, plastics or fuels.

This can be used to create a closed carbon cycle, in the long term as a central element of a circular economy. The conference was jointly organized and supported by Covestro, a materials producer regarded as a pioneer in CO2 utilization.

The 17th International Conference on Carbon Dioxide Utilization (ICCDU) was held under the motto "From Science to Application".

Walter Leitner, Professor at RWTH Aachen University and Director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion and one of the ICCDU Chairs, said: "We are pleased that numerous creative ideas for CO2 utilization have resulted in innovative products and processes marketed by major industrial companies and agile entrepreneurs. These are promising steps toward making chemistry more sustainable".

Key to Success: Collaboration

Dr. Christoph Gürtler, Co-Head of Catalysis Research at Covestro, added: "CO2 utilization is no easy task—it is a very inert molecule. The key to success lies in collaboration between application-oriented science and industry-based research".

With this approach, for example, Covestro succeeded in developing a platform technology in close cooperation with RWTH Aachen University to use CO2 as a building block for foams and other plastics.

A special focus of the conference was the pairing of carbon dioxide and electricity derived from renewable energy sources. Through this process, fuels and important chemical building blocks such as methanol, formaldehyde or formic acid can be produced in a particularly sustainable manner.

Professor Leitner noted: "The decarbonization of energy production by wind and solar power plants, with the help of the greenhouse gas CO2, can contribute to the 'defossilization' of the chemical industry".