Renewable carbon: the future of the chemical industry

The global chemical industry faces immense challenges in the effort to meet sustainability targets set by governments, industries, and society. The European Commission has committed to drastically reducing carbon emissions, and the transition to renewable energy sources is well underway. However, the chemical industry, heavily reliant on carbon-based raw materials, must move beyond fossil fuels to embrace renewable carbon. This shift is essential to achieving a sustainable and circular economy.

The need for renewable carbon

The chemical industry's reliance on fossil fuels—such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas—has long contributed to global carbon emissions. Despite improvements in efficiency and reductions in energy use, the sector's carbon footprint remains significant. Unlike the energy sector, where decarbonization (moving away from carbon) is the goal, the chemical industry cannot simply eliminate carbon. Organic chemistry requires carbon for the production of materials like plastics, and the demand for these materials continues to grow.

In response, the industry must transition from fossil carbon to renewable carbon. Renewable carbon can be derived from three key sources: recycling, biomass, and direct utilization of CO₂ (Carbon Capture and Utilization, or CCU). By switching to renewable carbon, the chemical industry can significantly reduce its impact on the environment while meeting growing demands for products and materials.

Three sources of renewable carbon

Recycling of plastics and organic chemistry products

Recycling plays a vital role in preserving resources and reducing carbon emissions. Both mechanical and chemical recycling processes can recover carbon from existing materials, ensuring that less virgin fossil carbon is extracted. While mechanical recycling recovers plastics without altering their structure, chemical recycling breaks plastics down into their chemical components, offering a wider range of applications and higher-quality products.

Although recycling is critical, it cannot provide the bulk of renewable carbon needed. The recycling process is energy-intensive, and the quality of recycled materials often diminishes with each cycle. To make a meaningful contribution, recycling efforts must be supplemented with sustainable energy sources and advanced technologies, ensuring that the industry doesn’t just maintain circularity but also minimizes carbon emissions.

Biomass utilization

Biomass represents another significant source of renewable carbon. Through photosynthesis, plants capture carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into biomass, which can be used as raw material for the chemical industry. Biomass-derived carbon can be obtained from primary sources like crops and forests, as well as from biogenic waste streams generated by agriculture, food production, and households.

The European Union has steadily increased the use of biomass in organic chemistry, covering 14% of its carbon demand in 2015. This share is expected to grow, particularly as the food industry moves away from excess production of sugar and other first-generation biomass. However, the use of biomass must be guided by comprehensive sustainability assessments to ensure that it doesn’t compete with food security or result in unintended environmental consequences.

Carbon Capture and Utilization - CCU

Direct utilization of CO₂ presents an almost unlimited potential for renewable carbon. CO₂ can be captured from the exhaust gases of industrial processes (e.g., power plants, cement production) or directly from the air using specialized technologies. Once captured, CO₂ can be chemically reduced into usable forms like methane, methanol, and ethene, which can serve as feedstock for the production of chemicals and plastics.

Although the process of converting CO₂ into usable carbon requires significant energy, it becomes sustainable when powered by renewable energy sources like wind or solar. Furthermore, advances in artificial photosynthesis and photocatalysis may eventually enable the direct use of sunlight to produce chemicals from CO₂. This technology holds immense promise for reducing the chemical industry’s reliance on fossil fuels while harnessing CO₂ as a valuable resource.

Economic and social benefits of renewable carbon

Despite its environmental benefits, renewable carbon is currently more expensive than fossil carbon. Achieving price parity will require continued technological advancements and greater availability of low-cost renewable energy. However, as crude oil prices rise, carbon emissions become increasingly taxed, and renewable energy grows in capacity, renewable carbon will become more economically viable. 

In addition to its environmental benefits, the transition to renewable carbon offers significant social and economic advantages. Shifting away from fossil fuels could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, particularly in decentralized production systems that utilize renewable carbon. In Europe alone, the oil and gas industry employs approximately 65,000 people, but a renewable carbon economy could employ five to ten times as many workers. Furthermore, as renewable carbon production is localized, it would reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels, improving energy security and stabilizing the supply chain.

A vision for 2050

The ultimate goal is a chemical industry that is entirely independent of fossil fuels by 2050. In this future scenario, the industry would rely on a combination of recycling, biomass, and CO₂ utilization to meet the growing demand for plastics and other materials. With 70% of new plastics being derived from CO₂ and 30% from biomass, the industry could produce more than one billion metric tons of plastics annually without relying on fossil carbon.

This vision aligns with the concept of a circular economy, where carbon is continually recycled through industrial processes and captured from the atmosphere, eliminating the need for additional fossil carbon. Achieving this goal will require collaboration between industry, government, and society, with strong political will and innovation driving the transition forward.

The transition to renewable carbon represents a fundamental shift in the chemical industry’s approach to raw materials. As the industry faces increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint and adopt sustainable practices, renewable carbon offers a viable pathway to meet these goals while maintaining growth and innovation. By embracing recycling, biomass, and CO₂ utilization, the industry can move away from fossil fuels and toward a future where carbon is sustainably sourced and continuously recycled.

Read more:

• nova-Paper #10: Renewable Carbon is Key to a Sustainable and Future-Oriented Chemical Industry
• Renewable Carbon Initiative