Gas to Petrochemicals Puts Downward Pressure on Oil Demand

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Crude oil is used for a wide range of purposes.  As economical substitutes are found to replace crude oil in its various uses, demand for oil tends to decrease. This is exactly what is beginning to happen for the industrial uses of oil, including the huge global petrochemicals and plastics industry.

In the US, ethane taken from "wet gas" will soon be "cracked" to the lucrative plastics precursor ethylene. Both Aither and Shell are racing to build expensive new ethane crackers in the US natural gas regions.

An ethane cracker converts natural gas into the bedrock elements of plastic, such as ethane, ethylene and polyethylene, and opens two doors to a global market: selling ethane-related products to existing plastic manufacturers, and attracting ethane-based manufacturers.

"Look at any (ethane) cracker in the world and you'll see at least one plastic manufacturing plant next to it," said Paul Badger, professor of chemistry at Robert Morris University.
The world of plastic is an intriguing market to enter.

"Ethylene is the No. 1 petrochemical in the world and is in fairly high demand ... The market fluctuates at times, but the demand for plastic will always be there," Badger said. _TimesOnline

In the Persian Gulf region, gas-rich Qatar is increasing its petrochemical production from natural gas to take advantage of new demands and improved technologies.

Qatar can capitalise on a number of competitive advantages in the chemicals sector, most importantly the availability of the world's third-largest gas reserves, which provide low-cost domestic energy and feedstock, as well as smaller, but significant, crude oil resources.

These have led to the development of the petrochemicals and fertiliser industries in particular. When natural gas is processed, it generally produces around 90% methane and 10% ethane. Methane is used in the production of ammonia and urea fertilisers, while ethane is a feedstock for many petrochemicals. _Zawya

In fact, Qatar is spending roughly $25 billion to expand its petrochemical production.

We should also mention here that Qatar's operating Pearl gas to liquids (GTL) plant, financed and operated by Shell, is on track to generate $6 billion in profits per year, from the production of diesel from gas, lng, and other petrochemicals.

The Earth's complement of natural gas has barely been tapped. And once safe and economical means of tapping into the enormous gas hydrate resource have been developed, we will see an even more rapid global rush into GTL and petrochemicals from gas.

The substitution of alternative fuels and feedstocks in place of crude oil has just begun. And the economics of $100 a barrel oil -- despite the rapid devaluation of the Obama dollar -- favours an accelerated upward curve in new substitution technologies and applications. This can only put a downward pressure on demand for crude oil.

Coals to Newcastle: Is it Rational to Make Ethanol from Hydrocarbons?

Celanese Corporation has developed a process called "TCX", for producing ethanol from hydrocarbons such as coal and gas. The company produces a range of acetyl products, including acetic acid, and patented a process for converting acetic acid to ethanol. Celanese has plans to build a coal-to-ethanol plant in China, and a gas-to-ethanol plant in Texas.

Everything hinges on the economics, of course. Celanese is focusing on the "industrial ethanol" market rather than the "fuels ethanol" market. The industrial ethanol market is a much smaller niche, and Celanese believes it can use its TCX process profitably if it aims at this smaller market.

The price comparisons in the table above suggest that if the production economics are comparable, it would be smarter to produce gasoline (or diesel) from your less valuable hydrocarbon feedstock -- coal or gas -- than to produce alcohols. But that is if you are targeting the fuels market.

Markets for industrial chemicals work a bit differently, and tend to fall under different sets of regulations. Celanese is already thoroughly involved in the industrial chemicals and materials business on a global scale. Often it is best to stay with what you know best, as long as you can make the numbers work.

Al Fin chemical engineers and industrial economists suggest that we are facing an ethanol glut on a global scale. Ethanol producers who are able to economically convert to butanol production should give such conversion serious consideration. And anyone considering either coal to liquids (CTL) or gas to liquids (GTL) for use as fuels, should probably avoid ethanol as a final product.

Big Oil and Big Chemistry See Salvation in Bio-Feedstocks

The Earth is floating in hydrocarbons, yet the easy oil is in the hands of dictators, kleptocrats, and corrupt national oil companies. Oil is not only used for fuels, it is also used for feedstock in the chemicals, fabrics, plastics, and lubricants industries. When big international oil companies and big international chemical companies are being held hostage by corrupt tin-pot national oil companies, what do they do? They look for alternative sources and feedstocks. The most promising alternative feedstocks come from biology -- biomass and bio-oils from micro- and macro-organisms.

Many new companies and industries are sprouting up to exploit the potentially huge and profitable economic opportunities. Hundreds of $billions are at stake in chemicals, and $trillions are at stake in the fuels trade. But these fledgling biomass, biofuels, and bio-chemicals companies need financial backing, and much of their backing is coming from big oil and big chemicals.

Advancing next-generation biofuels technology from proof-of-concept to commercial reality will require major investment, a need that is being filled in part by oil giants and other industrial players. At the same time, these corporate powerhouses are staking their claims in this emerging area knowing that dwindling fossil fuel reserves will limit their existing businesses, according to Burrill & Company's annual report on the biotech industry.

"Big Oil is to biofuels companies what Big Pharma has been to biotech drugmakers," says G. Steven Burrill, CEO of the San Francisco-based merchant banking firm Burrill & Company. "It's a symbiotic relationship. Biofuels developers need Big Oil's deep pockets, global presence, and engineering expertise. At the same time, Big Oil needs a strategy beyond fossil fuels if they are to have long-term financial health."

...It's not just large oil companies, such as Royal Dutch Shell, Total, and BP that are making strategic investments in emerging biorenewables. Large chemical concerns such as DuPont and Dow Chemical are also positioning themselves to become major players in the field.

"Because of the cost and complexity of scaling biofuels to a point where they could compete with conventional fossil fuels, the early opportunities for these biofuel companies will be in the area of high-value specialty chemicals," Mr. Burrill says.

Renewable chemicals represent an enormous opportunity to companies that are challenged by the scale and cost of fuel production. Although most companies say their chemicals can compete with petrochemical-based molecules when oil is selling for $60 to $80 a barrel, with the exception of ethanol and handful of other alternatives, few renewables have reached commercial scale. As these companies ramp up operations, they are turning to renewable chemicals as a substitute for petroleum-derived chemicals for use in plastics, fibers, cosmetics, and as bulk and specialty chemicals.

These findings are contained within Biotech 2011-Life Sciences: Looking Back to See Ahead, Burrill & Company's 25th annual report on the biotech industry. The book is now available in print and electronic format at www.burrillandco.com/resources.html. _Marketwire

A good example of a savvy biotech company jumping into these waters is Amyris, in the East SF Bay area. Amyris has developed farnesene from biomass and called it Biofene. The company plans to market the chemical to the global surfactants business, to generate cash flow to finance a frantic program of ongoing research into further bio-chemicals and bio-fuels from biomass production.

Gevo is another busy startup hoping to prosper in both the bio-fuels and bio-chemicals areas. Gevo has developed a proprietary yeast for fermenting corn sugars into butanol -- instead of ethanol. Butanol is a much higher value fuel than ethanol, and a precursor to high value chemicals. Gevo is retrofitting ethanol plants in Minnesota and South Dakota for production of bio-butanol.

One problem for these high tech startups is the emergence of abundant, cheap natural gas from unconventional sources. As Shell's Qatar GTL plant proves, natural gas can be an excellent feedstock for production of liquid fuels and chemicals if the price of feedstock is low enough.

And yet, Earth is a biological planet. Biomass of one type or another grows prolifically over the greater portion of both land and seas. Hydrocarbons are not as readily available at all locations as biomass could be. As new methods of fermentation, gasification, pyrolysis, torrefaction, etc. are developed for processing all forms of biomass, expect the smart money to discover the versatility of biology and biological products.

Synthetic Fuels from CO by Tweaking Molybdenum Nitrogenase

Nitrogenase enzymes allow living organisms to convert atmospheric N2 to organic nitrogen, for growth, development, and metabolism. But Utah State University researchers have discovered that by tweaking molybdenum nitrogenease -- substituting an alanine or glycine in place of the normal valine in a particular position -- the resulting enzyme can do a lot more than convert N2.

...when the nitrogenase MoFe protein α-70Val residue is substituted by alanine or glycine, the resulting variant proteins will catalyze the reduction and coupling of CO to form methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), ethylene (C2H4), propene (C3H6), and propane (C3H8).

The rates and ratios of hydrocarbon production from CO can be adjusted by changing the flux of electrons through nitrogenase, by substitution of other amino acids located near FeMo-cofactor, or by changing the partial pressure of CO. Increasing the partial pressure of CO shifted the product ratio in favor of the longer chain alkanes and alkenes. _Journal of Biological Chemistry _ via _USU PDF

It is unlikely that the yields are particularly high at this point -- and organic enzymes may well prove too delicate for high volume industrial synthesis of fuels from syngas-derived CO. In that case, biomimetic nano-catalysts are likely to be crafted which can take over for the nitrogenase enzyme.

More from USU:

While studying bacterial enzymes, known as nitrogenases, used in nitrogen reduction, Utah State University biochemists Zhi-Yong Yang and Lance Seefeldt, along with colleague Dennis Dean of Virginia Tech, discovered a molybdenum nitrogenase capable of converting carbon monoxide into usable hydrocarbons. The reaction is similar, they say, to FT synthesis.

“This is pretty profound,” says Seefeldt, professor in USU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “Understanding this process paves the way for developing better ways of converting carbon monoxide, a toxic waste product of combustion, into transportation fuel and precursors for plastics — without the time and energy required for conventional extraction of fossil fuels.”

The scientists’ findings appear in the article “Molybdenum Nitrogenase Catalyzes the Reduction and Coupling of CO to Form Hydrocarbons,” in the June 3, 2011 issue (and May 27 online issue) of Journal of Biological Chemistry. The paper was selected as “Paper of the Week” by the journal’s editorial board, an honor bestowed on the top one percent of more than 6,600 manuscripts reviewed annually by the publication’s editors. In the “Paper of the Week” feature, Yang, a doctoral candidate mentored by Seefeldt, is highlighted as an up-and-coming researcher. _USU

Of course if the researchers focused on creating better nitrogenases for converting atmospheric N2 to organic nitrogen, the revolutionary impact on human society would be just as great as discovering a breakthrough in synthetic fuels production.

It is likely that both breakthroughs will be made in time, built upon the crucial work being done at USU and other labs around the world. If so, better nitrogenases will contribute to abundant food AND abundant fuel.

H/T GreenCarCongress

Another High Value Chemical from Biomass: Farnesene

Tate and Lyle PLC is partnering with Amyris Inc., to produce farnesene from biomass sugars, to serve as a platform for production of high value chemicals and fuels. Amyris has developed a scale-up plan for production of bio-diesel from biomass sugars, with fairly ambitious near-term goals:

Amyris applies industrial synthetic biology to genetically modify yeast to produce defined molecules via fermentation for use as renewable chemicals and transportation fuels. The company is focusing on Brazilian sugarcane as its primary feedstock. According to UNICA, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, sugarcane is the lowest cost feedstock to produce renewable products at scale and using it enables us to leverage the established Brazilian infrastructure.

Common to both the Amyris process and the sugarcane-to-ethanol process is the use of fermentation. Amyris plans to establish production capacity taking as input the same sugar source that is routinely processed by existing sugar and ethanol mills and directing it to customized fermentors, where it will be combined with genetically engineered yeast. _GCC

As noted above, early pilot production will be based upon sugar feedstock from cane. As better methods are developed for producing sugars from bagasse and other cellulosic biomass, the sugar feedstock will necessarily shift to the most economical one -- depending upon availability at particular locations. Likewise, as yeasts are made better able, genetically, to handle a variety of sugars, the most economical sugar feedstock is apt to shift.

Fuels, Chemicals, Plastics, and More from Biomass

GCC

Smart producers are planning for multiple revenue streams from their investments in biomass to biofuels. By integrating the production of high value chemicals, plastics, and other products into the mix, these companies can achieve profitability earlier, and hedge their revenue streams from slowdowns in individual sectors.

Avantium, which spun off from Shell in 2000 to develop furan-based biofuels and biomaterials, has begun construction of a pilot plant at the Chemelot site (Geleen, the Netherlands) to convert carbohydrates into furanic building blocks—which the company calls “YXY”—for making renewable materials and fuels. Furanics are heteroaromatic compounds derived from the chemical intermediate HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural, C6H6O3).

The pilot plant is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2011 and marks a major milestone in the commercialization of Avantium’s technology. The plant will produce several tons of YXY building blocks per year to support product development.

...The Chemelot site in Geleen, the Netherlands offers services and a specialized chemical infrastructure to the industrial producers, among others DSM and Sabic.

YXY (pronounced “ixy”) is a patented technology that converts biomass into Furanics using Avantium’s catalytic technology. YXY can be implemented in existing chemical production methods. _GCC

A look at 2007 testing of furanal fuels by Avantium

Craig Venter Aims to Replace the Entire Petrochemical Industry

“Designing and building synthetic cells will be the basis of a new industrial revolution,” Dr. Venter says. “The goal is to replace the entire petrochemical industry.” _NYT

NYT

Peak Oil will occur when humans no longer want to bother drilling into the ground to extract dark, gooey, messy liquids to turn into fuels. Instead, humans are slowly but surely developing other, more reliable and sustainable ways to fuel their industrial base and somewhat affluent lifestyles. Dieoff.orgiasts and other members of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement hate to see any alternatives to Peak Oil Doom, or any skepticism to the orthodoxy of Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming. But humans are innately a problem-solving and skeptical lot.

Craig Venter is one example of an unlikely problem solver. He was a poor student in his youth, and only after living through some harrowing experiences in Vietnam as a military medic was young Venter able to get his head on straight, and decide to do something with his life.

...Dr. Venter has a history of defying skeptics, and many people are betting that he will succeed this time as well. Dr. Walton, in fact, invested personally in Synthetic Genomics, and his venture firm, Oxford Bioscience Partners, recently wanted to sink a hefty sum into the company but was turned down when Dr. Venter found other investors offering better terms.

Exxon Mobil is giving Synthetic Genomics $300 million in research financing to design algae that could be used to produce gasoline and diesel fuel. (The new greenhouse will be used for that research.)

BP has invested in the company itself, turning to Synthetic Genomics to study microbes that might help turn coal deposits into cleaner-burning natural gas. Another investor, the Malaysian conglomerate Genting, wants to improve oil output from its palm tree plantations, working toward what its chief executive calls a “gasoline tree.”

...In the approach toward which Dr. Venter is driving, engineers would specify the entire genetic code of a cell — essentially the software that runs the cell — on computers, making design changes as if on a word processor. They would then press the “print” button, so to speak, and the DNA would be manufactured from its chemical components. The synthetic DNA would then be transplanted into an existing cell, where it would “boot up” and take control of the cell’s operations.

...Synthetic Genomics has about 130 employees. But much of its research, including the development of the synthetic cell, is done at the J. Craig Venter Institute. Synthetic Genomics pays for about 25 of the institute’s roughly 300 researchers, and has rights to their results. The rest of the institute’s funding comes mainly from federal grants and its endowment.... _NYT

Venter seems to love challenges and competitions. He lives to defy skeptics and to defeat rivals. And do you know the odd thing? The world is full of young Venters who have not yet -- and may never -- figured out what they want to do with their lives.

Pelted mercilessly with nightmarish predictions of doom and gloom, and instilled by governmenbt schools and indoctrinating universities with the futility of trying to fight their fate, hundreds of thousands of young Venters never amount to much -- when they might have done, given the right experiences in early life.

Coal Is So Misunderstood: Coal to Olefins Plant in China

Peak oil apostles claim that as oil resources dry up, the ability to maintain agriculture, plastics, and petrochemicals industries will be destroyed. But the human mind can find ways of substituting cheap and abundant resources in place of resources which may grow scarce and expensive (even if only temporarily).

Olefins, also called alkenes, are unsaturated organic compounds that contain at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond. They can be used in many reactions which occur by opening up the double bond.

Olefins are used as building block chemicals for making other petrochemicals and polymers. The commercially most important olefins are ethylene, propylene and butadiene. Other olefins used in the production of petrochemicals and polymers include butene, isobutene (or isobutylene), hexene and octene. _ICIS

Coal can be a clean and vital part of Earth's energy and resource future -- if we can keep fanatical die-off green lefty-Luddites from shutting down the crucial asset. Coal to gas and coal to liquids technology are well known, but coal to chemicals technology is just beginning to take off.

The gasification unit at one of the world’s largest coal-to-olefins projects successfully started up at the China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Co. Ltd.’s project in Baotou, Inner Mongolia (Shenhua Baotou Coal to Olefins project). The gasification unit uses advanced coal gasification technology provided by GE (NYSE:GE).

The gasification technology converts coal into a synthesis gas (or syngas). Syngas can then be used to produce methanol, which will be transformed into olefins, a building block for producing polyethylene and polypropylene. At full production—scheduled for fourth quarter of 2010—the Shenhua Baotou Coal to Olefins project will produce nearly 1.8 million tons of methanol for approximately 600,000 tons of polyethylene and polypropylene per year.

With five gasifiers and two spare units, the Shenhua Baotou Coal to Olefins project is one of the largest coal to olefins plants in the world. The plant underscores the importance that the Chinese government is placing on using the country’s large coal reserves to reduce its heavy dependence on imported olefins (polyethylene and polypropylene-based plastics) and drive further economic growth.

“The size and scope of this project is possible because of strong government interest in the development of larger coal-to-olefins plants,” said Jason Crew, director of gasification products—Asia for GE Power & Water. “The Shenhua Baotou Coal to Olefins project is one of three large-scale, coal-to-olefins demonstration projects funded by the Chinese government and is the first one to start up. We are proud that GE gasification technology is part of this successful industrial scale project.”

Gasification technology is critical for the expansion of the Chinese economy, allowing a wide variety of industrial products and fuels to be created from low-cost and abundant coal resources. GE’s gasification technology is one of the most widely applied technologies of its kind in China, with more than 40 licensed facilities. As gasification projects in China get larger and more complex, advanced technologies such as GE’s larger scale quench gasifier and higher pressure gasification technology will have a significant role in reducing overall project cost. _Manufacturing

Gevo Turning Cellulose into Fuels, Plastics, Clothing, etc.

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Renewable chemicals company Gevo is now producing a range of products from biomass cellulose-derived sugars. These products include fuels usable as gasoline and diesel replacements, as well as jet fuel. Other high value products from biomass include plastics and clothing fiber materials. Gevo first ferments isobutanol from biomass (cellulose-derived sugars), then converts the isobutanol to other high value materials.

Gevo uses synthetic biology and metabolic engineering to develop biocatalysts (fermentation organisms) to make only isobutanol via fermentation at high concentrations—i.e., without the typical expression co-products. The initial generation biocatalyst operates on fermentable sugars from grain crops, sugar cane and sugar beets. Gevo has already produced renewable gasoline and jet fuel that meet or exceed all ASTM specifications.

The company is now developing a new generation of biocatalysts that can use the mixed sugars from biomass to produce cellulosic isobutanol.

To operate its fermentation at optimum conditions for the organism, and within the process conditions found in ethanol plants, Gevo developed a novel separation technology. The solution uses a process innovation for continuous separation of the isobutanol—which in high concentrations inhibits the growth of microorganisms—as it is produced.

...What’s new is the cost-effective production and purification of isobutanol from biomass. Gevo projects that the cash operating cost for its hydrocarbon fuel is competitive with $65 per barrel crude oil (without incentives).

Isobutanol can also be used directly as a gasoline blendstock and as a building block in the production of hydrocarbons found in petroleum-derived gasoline, jet and diesel fuels. _GCC

As Gevo improves its yields at all stages of its processes, the economics of Gevo's potential operations should become more clear. Biomass is not energy-dense, which means that pre-processing stages will need to be made cheap, light, and portable so as to go where the biomass is -- for purposes of densification of the energy resource. That will involve many small, local scale pre-processing plants -- some of them portable by truck or rail.

Preliminary products will then be shipped or piped to several regional processing plants for conversion into isobutanol and higher value products. A few more central plants may exist for more complex conversions and synthesis -- or chemical intermediates would be sold in bulk to other companies for final conversion in some special cases.

It is unclear how far into industrial production Gevo wants to go. The market exists for very large numbers of local pre-processing plants, and a significant number of regional processing plants.

Biomass can be derived from agricultural and forestry waste, and dedicated energy crops and fast growing trees. But the best prospect for high yield biomass at this time is micro-algae. Most of the problems preventing economic production of biodiesel from algae are not applicable to Gevo's process using algal biomass -- not algal oils.

The

Coal to Gas, Coal to Hydrogen

Coal represents a massive energy resource to allow a smooth transition from a petroleum economy to a sustainable energy economy. Cleaner and more efficient means of using coal (and other unconventionals like oil sands, oil shale, heavy oil) will be necessary, as unconventional fossil fuels displace light, sweet crude in transportation and other energy uses. The clean gasification of coal is an important process for eliminating much of the pollution from coal combustion that is rampant in China and India at this time.

By adding a catalyst to the coal gasification system, GreatPoint Energy is able to reduce the operating temperature in the gasifier, while directly promoting the reactions that yield methane, (CH4). Under these mild catalytic conditions, less expensive reactor components are required, pipeline grade methane is produced, and very low cost carbon sources (such as lignites, sub-bituminous coals, tar sands, petroleum coke and petroleum resid) can be used as feedstocks.

Because hydromethanation is a catalytic process that does not rely on combustion, it does not produce the nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulphur oxide (SOx) and particulate emissions typically associated with the burning of carbon feedstock. Instead, the process captures nearly all of the impurities found in coal, petroleum coke and biomass and converts them into valuable chemical-grade byproducts.

The first step in the hydromethanation process is to combine the catalyst with the feedstock in such a way as to ensure that the catalyst disperses throughout the matrix of the feedstock for effective reactivity. The catalyst/feedstock material is then loaded into the hydromethanation reactor.

Inside the reactor, pressurized steam is injected to “fluidize” the mixture and ensure constant contact between the catalyst and the carbon particles. In this environment, the catalyst facilitates multiple chemical reactions between the carbon and the steam on the surface of the coal or biomass.

Compared to more conventional approaches to gasification and SNG production, the bluegas process eliminates the need for an external water gas shift reactor, a methanation reactor, and air separation plant.

The hydrogen will be used for industrial applications or combusted to generate near-zero carbon electricity. The SNG can be transported in the existing pipeline infrastructure and used as fuel in home heating, power plants or industrial processes. _GCC

Although hydrogen is an inferior fuel, it is quite useful in chemical processes of various types -- including the production of superior fuels using biomass, coal, and other carbon sources.

Isobutene from Biomass: Synthetic Bio Solutions

A French synthetic biology company has devised a means for producing isobutene from sugars. Isobutene is a valuable and important feedstock for many industrial processes. This new synthesis opens another important door for biomass to fuels, biomass to chemicals, biomass to plastics, biomass to rubber, etc etc

The overall equation for the isobutene production process developed by Global Bioenergies is:

C6H12O6 → C4H8 + 2 CO2 + 2 H2O

The process is designed to be used downstream from three sugar production pathways: sugar, starch and cellulose. The process can thus be used with cellulosic biomass, following pretreatment and hydrolysis. _GCC

Isobutene is used in the production of rubber for the tire industry as well as in manufacturing processes for plastics, antioxidants, and fine chemicals. Additionally, isobutene is the source material of polyisobutene, which is a precursor material for lubricant and fuel additives as well as adhesives and sealants. _Source

First, perfect your processes for high value, lower volume chemicals. By that means you can pay for the perfecting of your processes for much higher volume fuels. Although fuels give lower profit margins than high value chemicals, it is the high volume of fuels that provides the much higher overall gross profits.

Later on, after ground transportation has largely shifted to electric transport, and sea transportation has shifted to small nukes, you can fall back to high value feedstock production as your liquid fuels market shrinks away.

$50 Billion Market for Benzene, Toluene, Xylene

Using Huber’s rapid new catalytic pyrolysis technology, Anellotech has already demonstrated commercially relevant production not only of gasoline and biofuel precursors but of benzene, toluene and xylene ... Global markets for these chemicals are in excess of $50 billion at present.

Anything you can make from crude oil, in the next 10 to 20 years we can make from biomass. One of the beauties of biofuel is that the products are indistinguishable from those derived from petroleum oil today. People are going to pull up to the gas station and pump fuel produced with this clean, green technology in their cars without necessarily being aware of it. All the changes will be made on the front end, at the biorefinery. Rather than refining crude oil we’re going to be refining renewable biomass.
—George Huber _GCC

Biomass can be made to grow with very little encouragement. Using techniques such as George Huber's rapid catalytic pyrolysis, biomass can be converted into fuels, fuel precursors, and precursors for the production of plastics, high value chemicals, and other high value feedstocks.

Industrialists must seek out petroleum oil wherever they can find it. But biomass can be grown across most of Earth's surface -- on both ocean and land. The energy density of biomass is lower than for coal, petroleum, gas, oil shales, oil sands, and heavy oils. But the energy contained within biomass can be made more dense, with various ingenious methods already well-known to engineers, industrialists, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists. And biomass can be regrown at least once every year.

Turning CO2 Into Methanol: Mitsui Plant Opens

Last summer, Brian Westenhaus reported on a Mitsui process for turning CO2 into methanol. Now a Mitsui Chemicals pilot plant for producing methanol from CO2 has begun operations.

Mitsui Chemicals (MCI) has begun operating its pilot plant for synthesizing methanol from CO2. (Earlier post.) The pilot plant will produce approximately 100 tonnes of methanol per year as a base material for plastics from the CO2 released during ethylene production at the Osaka Works petrochemical complex.....

The process relies on hydrogen obtained from water photolysis and ultra-high activity electrocatalysts consisting of zinc oxide and copper. _GCC

In truth, we do not have enough CO2 to do all the things we could be doing with it. Plants need it to grow and fruit. Single cell algae and other microbes thrive on CO2. But there is very little of it in the atmosphere -- it is only a trace gas constituting less than 0.4 % of all atmospheric gases. Mitsui chemists are tapping into industrial processes that produce CO2 as a waste product.