Friday, August 16, 2024
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, LUT University, and several companies have launched a pilot plant in Espoo, Finland, to convert captured carbon dioxide into compounds that can serve as sustainable alternatives to fossil-based raw materials in plastics and chemicals. The pilot plant, housed within sea containers, commenced operations in August. Leveraging renewable energy, the hydrogen economy, and bio-based carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sectors presents Finland with significant opportunities to foster new, sustainable industrial activities.
Finland is focusing on utilising bio-based carbon capture as a key strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Government Programme aims to significantly expand the use of technological carbon sinks. As part of this effort, the Forest CUMP research project by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and LUT University has explored how bio-based carbon dioxide, sourced from industries such as forestry and waste incineration, can be captured and converted into high-value products like polypropylene and polyethylene. Building on these promising findings, VTT and its partners have launched a pilot plant, housed in sea containers, at the Bioruukki pilot center in Espoo, Finland, to bring these innovations into practical application.
“Finland has huge potential to be one of the leading countries in utilising bio-based carbon dioxide,” says Juha Lehtonen, Research Professor at VTT.
“Finland produces around 30 million tonnes of bio-based carbon dioxide per year. If captured and converted into products, Finland could become a major producer and exporter of polymers and transport fuels made from carbon dioxide and hydrogen.” Juha added further.
Polypropylene and polyethylene are the most common plastic types used in everyday life, which are currently mainly produced from fossil raw materials. Plastics play an important role in sequestering carbon dioxide in long-lasting products.
“The technology creates a significant export opportunity for renewable high-value-added products. Due to its extensive forest industry, Finland has a huge potential to utilise bio-based carbon dioxide. Outside the Nordic countries, large sources of bio-based carbon dioxide are rare,” Lehtonen says.
The business ecosystem covers the chain from factory pipes to plastic products.
The Forest CUMP project is implemented in close cooperation with business partners as part of Business Finland’s Veturi ecosystem, which supports sustainable development. One of the Veturi companies is Borealis. Forest CUMP is part of Borealis’ SPIRIT programme, which promotes the green transition of the plastics industry.
“This is a significant development project to support our vision of capturing and utilising industrial carbon emissions by producing long-lasting or fully recyclable plastic products that can sequester carbon for a long time,” says Ismo Savallampi from Borealis.
The research project has studied the entire production chain from carbon capture to ethylene and propylene production. Ethylene and propylene are the raw materials for polyethylene and polypropylene. At this stage, they are produced at VTT Bioruukki from flue gas carbon dioxide. In the future, the technology can be brought into production wherever bio-based carbon dioxide is produced, such as in forest industry or waste incineration plants.
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