Carbon capture and utilisation for polymers

Our client, a major oil company, was considering diversifying into carbon capture technologies to reduce CO₂ emissions generated during their refining operations. In particular, the client was interested in doing more than simply capturing carbon dioxide and wanted to turn this waste gas into a valuable resource for producing fuels or polymers.

The client had completed an initial survey of state-of-the-art solutions in this technology area but sought our guidance in investigating the next generation of carbon dioxide utilisation technologies still under development. The client also wanted our expert advice regarding which new carbon dioxide utilisation solutions would best suit their specific goals.

We started by working with the client to understand their objectives for the use of carbon dioxide as a resource. Our initial work revealed they were considering two distinct types of technological solutions. Firstly, possible solutions that could be developed into a production-ready process within the next few years and secondly, those that would be transformative for their industry over the next five to ten years.

We identified several experts on carbon dioxide utilisation technologies with backgrounds in technology and industry to join our team for the first stage of our client’s project. This initial project team identified and benchmarked carbon dioxide utilisation technologies across the full range of technology readiness levels (TRLs) to select those that appeared most promising for our client’s goals.

After identifying the best technologies for our client, we organised them into specific sub-areas by application. We then selected an additional five experts with knowledge of each of these specific sub-areas to evaluate each CO₂ utilisation technology in greater detail. Our analysis determined each utilisation solution’s technical requirements, evaluated its strengths and weaknesses in achieving the client’s goals, and considered whether these technologies could be significantly improved soon. In all, we identified several technologies both in the medium and long term that would support our client’s progress towards meeting their decarbonisation goals.

Our analysis presented the current technological landscape of CO₂ utilisation solutions, from the state-of-the-art processes to technologies that were still under development. CamIn’s expert team also identified several other technologies likely to become more prevalent over the next ten years, which would support our client’s long-term goals.