(especially in the field of bio-based raw materials)
There are a lot of conferences happening in the Netherlands these days. Open LinkedIn and you'll see one lineup after another. Because I'm stuck in that bubble, meetings about energy and chemistry dominate my timeline. I attend some, like this week's annual Energy Day, hosted by online magazine Energeia. It was an excellent conference, with, among others, an enthusiastic Diederik Samsom on stage, who enthusiastically discussed innovations in the energy sector. And a good presentation by Carolien Gehrels about a cluster contract for CO2 infrastructure. But all the presentations remain neatly within the framework of the energy sector. And that's a missed opportunity.
Energy sector output is incredibly interesting for the chemical sector. Biofuels play a key role in this. Bioenergy (green electricity, green gas) is produced from organic materials. Chemical processes enable the CO2 released in this process to be converted into various products. Take ethanol, for example, a solvent used in cleaning products and disinfectant gels. Bioethanol is already produced directly from biomass, but now also from biogenic CO2. The same applies to methanol, which is used in the production of plastics, paints, and fuel. Syngas is already a basis for methanol, but it can also be produced from a combination of hydrogen and biogenic CO2. This creates e-methanol, or green methanol. New developments are also emerging. Technology based on biogenic CO2 is also being developed for the flammable and expensive acetylene. These are all examples of Carbon Capture & Utilization, or CCU. Developments in this area are moving so rapidly that, in my opinion, an adjustment to the well-known biomass pyramid is necessary. The – in itself correct – reasoning that we should use scarce biomass as efficiently as possible underlies this cascading model. Energy applications have long been at the bottom of the triangle. But we are increasingly seeing CO2 from bioenergy finding a chemical pathway to the higher regions (see figure).
Converting CO2—biogenic, fossil, atmospheric, or oceanic (yes, indeed)—into chemical building blocks requires a great deal of energy. This currently makes it a costly undertaking. But it does present an opportunity to simultaneously make a sustainable push in the Netherlands and create chemical and industrial innovations. (Electrochemical) processes are already being developed that consume less energy. Or perhaps we will innovate in the Netherlands, and commercialization will take place in countries with a surplus of clean energy.
However we approach it, there's enormous opportunity in the collaboration between energy and chemistry. My call, therefore, is to put chemists and energy experts side by side on a stage. Who knows what proverbial chemistry will emerge.
About the author
Marieke van der Werf
Advisor in the field of energy and circular economy
Marieke van der Werf is an advisor at the intersection of sustainability and politics. After her membership of the Chamber, she joined Bureau Publyon, Public Affairs and Corporate Communications as a partner. Marieke has specialized in energy and the circular economy and advises, among others, the Green Gas Platform. She is also chair of the CCU Alliance and initiator of the Negative Emissions Task Force, where biogenic CO2 plays an important role. In addition to her consultancy work, Marieke fulfills supervisory roles at, among others, the Frisian Energy Fund and Spaarnelanden BV.
