California based chemicals start-up, Chemetry, has announced that it will be building a demonstration plant for Brazilian petrochemical leader Braskem. The pilot plant will demonstrate a more efficient (from a cost and environmental perspective) way to produce ethylene dichloride (EDC).

How we get EDC and who needs it:

Virtually all EDC produced (about 95%) is used to make vinyl chloride monomer, which in turn becomes PVC. You can't have PVC pipes and all of these things without EDC. Traditionally EDC production is done by reacting ethylene with chlorine gas. Chlorine gas production is done by the energy-intensive 130-year-old chloralkali process.

Why Chemetry is special:

Chemetry's process technology produces EDC by reacting ethylene with a metal chloride, so it requires no chlorine gas. Chief strategy officer at Chemetry explains, "We skip the chlorine separation part and just react the chloride ion with ethylene.". This means no need to store, manage, or transport chlorine gas. Currently, Braskem imports most of the EDC it uses to produce PVC. This technology could be a great way for Braskem to cut costs and reduce its reliance on those imports.

Read the press release here.

Norwegian chemicals and metals company, Elkem, has announced that it will be building a battery materials plant in one of the largest industrial parks in Norway. A pilot plant will first be constructed and then the final decision will be made for a full-scale facility afterward.

What exactly are they making?

Elkem produces graphite for the anode of lithium-ion batteries. As the leading anode material behind electric vehicle (EV) production, demand for graphite "is expected to increase more than ten times from today's level to 2030". We last mentioned battery material production a couple weeks ago when Johnson Matthey announced its new cathode material plant.

Some context:

What makes this plant special isn't anything Elkem is doing, but rather the location that Elkem chose for the plant. The plant will have access to hydropower for energy needs, decreasing the emissions associated with the production of the anode material by 90%. This makes the material more valuable to battery cell manufacturers (like Panasonic).

Read the press release here.

Air BP, a subsidiary of the British energy company BP, has signed an agreement with leading renewable fuels producer Neste to supply five-times more sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Europe. The Neste produced SAF will be delivered to select airports in the next few weeks.

What does BP have to do with this?

Air BP is one of the world's largest suppliers of aviation fuels worldwide. With services in over 1000 airport locations in 70 different countries, Air BP delivers jet fuel to a lot of planes. Now part of the jet fuels they offer will include even more SAF.

Some context:

Biofuels are currently the only viable method of reducing emissions associated with aviation (batteries are heavy). Neste produces its SAF from 100% renewable waste and residue raw materials, reducing emissions associated with flying. As airlines look for ways to become more sustainable the demand for SAF is increasing. As a result, Neste is building more capacity and companies like BP are getting involved to reach net-zero emissions goals. Just last week we saw a similar announcement from Neste but in the US.

Read more here.