The manufacture of many products is based on chemicals that are obtained in large quantities from petroleum. In order to convert these products to a sustainable raw material base, it is necessary to open up CO2 as a carbon carrier and petroleum alternative and to use renewable energies in the chemical conversion process.
The aim of the project is the direct production of alcohols from CO2 by means of electrochemical reduction. This electrolysis is to be operated under techno-economic conditions.
Such power-to-X processes are particularly interesting for the production of C1 to C4 alcohols, as they are of great importance for various processes. For example, ethanol and propanol can be converted into ethene and propene - the starting materials for the plastics polyethylene and polypropylene. Butanol can be used to produce butadiene - the starting material for synthetic rubber.
In this process, the one-step process from CO2 and water directly to alcohols can achieve energy savings of up to 20 percent compared with the two-step process.
https://www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de/de/projekte/elektrosynthese-alkohole.html
Cluster of Excellence Integrated Energy Systems