- Flue2Chem aims to transform the sustainability of the UK’s consumer products industry by developing a new value chain using captured CO2
- The collaborative project includes industry giants – BASF, Tata Steel and Unilever – in a first ever cross-sector collaboration to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
- The two-year project has received £2.68 million of grant funding from Innovate UK
Carbon Clean, a global leader in cost-effective carbon capture solutions, has joined forces with 14 other organisations, including BASF, Tata Steel and Unilever, to demonstrate the value of carbon capture to the UK consumer products sector.
The two-year Flue2Chem project will develop a new value chain to convert industrial waste gases into sustainable materials for consumer products, which could result in a saving of 15-20 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year in the UK. It is receiving £2.68 million of grant funding from Innovate UK’s Transforming Foundation Industries (TFI) Challenge.
Foundation industries such as metals, glass, paper and chemicals could provide alternative sources of CO2 for UK consumer product production, at a time when most of the carbon used in everything from electronics to home care and many other products is extracted from coal, oil and gas. If the UK is to reach its net zero target by 2050, industries must find an alternative source for the carbon in these goods.
Carbon Clean’s fully modular CycloneCC carbon capture technology will capture 10 TPD of CO2 from three industrial sites – at Holmen, Tata Steel and UPM – as part of the project.
James Hall, Head of Research at Carbon Clean, said:
“We’re excited to be working alongside UK industry giants and academia in this project to evaluate the full value chain of carbon capture and utilisation in the UK. Deploying our carbon capture technology in foundation industries, such as metals, glass, paper and chemicals, will generate a vital source of CO2 for the UK consumer products industry. It’s a great example of the circular carbon economy in action – transforming captured carbon into affordable raw materials for consumer products.”
Currently the UK is importing large amounts of carbon containing feedstocks each year for use in the consumer goods industry, so securing an alternative domestic source will also bring economic benefits. Aside from the technical aspects of the project, the business model development will frame the economic incentives that are likely to be required to make the model work. The project will bring together partners from across the whole supply chain to achieve this.
