Carbon capture technology advances in converting industrial emissions to raw materials

The Carbon2Chem collaborative project has reached its ten-year milestone, demonstrating the ability to utilize carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from industrial flue gases as raw materials for the chemical industry. Coordinated by Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion, and thyssenkrupp, the project aims to replace fossil carbon with carbon sourced from industrial point sources such as steel, lime, and thermal waste treatment plants.

In Duisburg, the technology has successfully produced sustainable methanol of industrial quality using real steelworks gases. The project integrates gas purification, electrolysis, hydrogen supply, and synthesis to create a systemic approach to climate protection.

Complementary research published in Nature Communications highlights a new method to convert industrial carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide using an organic solvent mixture of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and acetonitrile (ACN). This approach potentially bypasses the costly and energy-intensive purification steps typically required in carbon capture, as the solvent environment allows for selective conversion even in the presence of oxygen.