German specialty chemical producer, Evonik, has announced additional investment in a Danish start-up that has developed a modular generator of hydrogen peroxide.

Some context:

Evonik is one of the largest producers of hydrogen peroxide with 13 plants and an annual production near 1 million metric tons. Today, the production of hydrogen peroxide is done almost exclusively by a process patented back in 1939 and relies heavily on an extensive supply chain that transports the hazardous chemical around the globe.

So what does the start-up do?

The start-up, called HPNow, produces hydrogen peroxide with a proprietary electrocatalytic cell that consumes only water, electricity, and air. The company is targeting customers where the transport and storage of the chemical have restricted its use (like the agriculture industry). Evonik first invested a couple of years ago and is pouring more money into it because "HPNow has been very successful over the past three years in developing and commercializing its technology".

Read the press release here.

Clean hydrogen and chemicals producer, Monolith Materials, has announced that it has received an investment from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to support its emissions-free hydrogen production technology.

What's that technology?

Monolith is using methane pyrolysis to split natural gas into hydrogen and solid carbon (carbon black). The majority of that carbon black (70%) is used to pigment and reinforce tires, and most of the remainder is used in food packaging and inks. The hydrogen produced can then be used as energy storage or as a feedstock for chemicals (like ammonia).

Why the investment?

MHI produces the turbines you'll find at natural gas power plants, but there's been some talk about future turbines using a blend of hydrogen and natural gas for emission reductions. Monolith is promising clean hydrogen with its methane pyrolysis technology, and MHI just wants a piece of it.

Read the press release here.

Thailand-based petrochemical company, Indorama Ventures (IVL), has announced that it has successfully acquired a $300M loan to invest in the recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.

A little background:

We last saw IVL in the form of its fiber subsidiary, but the company is one of the largest producers of PET globally. Back in August, IVL announced that it had acquired a PET recycling facility in Poland. This financing package will allow the company to continue its expansion into PET recycling.

The details:

IVL wants to produce a minimum of 750,000 tons of recycled PET by 2025 (that's 50 billion PET bottles per year). To put that in context, nearly 600 billion PET bottles are projected to be made next year.

Read the press release here.