Carbon dioxide (CO2) can now be recycled and used as a raw material and substitute for petroleum. In Leverkusen, Germany, a pilot plant has come on stream to trial a new process on a technical scale. The plant produces a chemical precursor into which CO2 – a waste gas and key contributor to climate change – is incorporated and then processed into polyurethanes that are used in many everyday items such as mattresses, insulation materials and footballs. If the testing phase goes well, the industrial production of plastics based on CO2 should start in 2015.
The innovative process is the result of the “Dream Production” project; a collaboration between industry and science. On the project, the German chemical and pharmaceutical company Bayer is working with the energy company RWE, which supplies the CO2 used in the process. Other project partners are RWTH Aachen University and the CAT Catalytic Center, which is run jointly by the university and Bayer. RWTH Aachen University is subjecting all stages of the new process to comprehensive ecological and economic scrutiny, and is also comparing it with conventional processes and products.
The efficient use of CO2 is only possible because a suitable catalyst, for which experts had been searching for four decades, has finally been discovered by scientists at Bayer and the CAT. The new process helps to boost sustainability in a number of different ways. For example, carbon dioxide may offer an alternative to petroleum, which has until now been the chemical sector’s main source of the key element carbon. Polyurethanes themselves also help to reduce energy consumption and protect the climate. When used to insulate buildings from cold and heat, they can save approximately 70 times more energy than is used in their production. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia is – together with Bayer – supporting the CAT Catalytic Center. The “Dream Production” project is receiving federal funding amounting to approximately EUR 5 million. Including the investment of Bayer and RWE the total budget amounts to some EUR 9 million.
On the occasion of the opening ceremony for the pilot plant, Parliamentary State Secretary Thomas Rachel from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research spoke of a “revolutionary” approach that could completely change how we view CO2. “The debate on climate change has portrayed CO2 as the villain of the piece in the public eye. Now we are supporting research into alternative solutions that could make good use of CO2 as a raw material.” Professor Klaus Töpfer, founding director of the new Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany, said that the carbon cycle must be closed: “CO2 should be used as a resource and not disposed of as waste.” And Bayer Board of Management member Dr. Wolfgang Plischke commented: “The inauguration of this pilot plant is another milestone in a long line of Bayer projects that have used innovative technologies to develop sustainable production processes.”
