Business Concentrates AGRICULTURE
GREENHOUSE GASES
Environmental group forecasts that coal-tochemicals plants will account for a significant portion of CO2 emissions by 2020 Coal-to-chemicals projects that come online in China between 2015 and 2020 will be significant contributors to the country’s emissions of CO2, warns the environmental group Greenpeace. Responsible for less than 1% of the country’s CO2 emissions in 2015, coal-to-chemicals plants could be responsible for as much as 8% of the total by 2020. “The coal-to-chemicals industry is one of the major contributors to carbon emissions in China,” the group says. In a new study, Greenpeace estimates carbon emissions by Chinese plants that convert coal into olefins, ethanol, and synthetic oil and gas amounted to 90 million metric tons in 2015. In 2020, assuming that all planned projects go forward, carbon emissions by the coal-to-chemicals sector will surge to 790 million metric tons. That’s equivalent to 8% of the 10 billion metric tons of carbon emissions China reported from all sources in 2015. Greenpeace’s calculations assume that China’s overall carbon emissions will continue to remain stable. The leveling off of China’s emissions in recent years can be credited to less-intensive coal use across the country, the group adds. But in the near future, “emissions from coal-to-chemical projects may have a negative impact on China’s carbon reduction policies,” according to the report. Greenpeace is too pessimistic in its assessment of the impact of future coal-to-chemicals projects, says DeLome
Carbon king CO2 emissions from Chinese coal-tochemicals projects are predicted to surge.
Type of production
CO2 emissions per year (millions of metric tons) 2015 2020
Coal to ethanol
6
48
Coal to gas
8
378
Coal to oil
9
195
Coal to olefins
68
171
TOTAL
91
792
Note: Estimate for 2020 includes emissions from already built projects, projects under construction, and government-approved but not yet built projects. Source: Greenpeace
Fair, CEO of Synthesis Energy Systems, a Houston-based supplier of coal gasification technologies that has licensed its process to Chinese operators. The company has also invested in coal gasification plants in China. “China started taking action several years ago to reduce carbon emissions of coal-to-chemicals projects by putting in place requirements for minimum efficiencies,” Fair says. New plants must also abide by stricter emissions guidelines. And she expects Chinese authorities will soon start ordering the shutdown or replacement of older plants that do not meet environmental requirements.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS
TREMBLAY
MATERIALS
DuPont celebrates 50 years of Tyvek Tyvek got its start in 1955 when DuPont researcher Jim White discovered an unusually strong fiber in the lab. DuPont made a durable, nonwoven fabric from the spun polyethylene fibers by bonding them together with heat and pressure. The company began commercial production in 1967. Today, Tyvek is used to wrap and protect houses, mail, sterile medical devices, and even people.
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | MAY 8, 2017
Bay Area biotech firm Calysta has raised $40 million in a fourth round of funding from strategic and venture capital investors. The company will use the funds to scale up production of a new type of fish feed, made from natural gas, with corporate partner Cargill. Farm-raised fish, specifically salmon, trout, and shrimp, are fed high-protein diets that include fish meal from small, wildcaught species. But overfishing and higher prices are driving a search for alternative sources of easy-to-digest protein. Calysta’s product, called FeedKind, is made from protein-rich, single-cell bacteria that live in industrial fermenters, where they digest methane and turn it into protein. Although the company says aquaculture is its first target market, the protein could also be used to feed farm animals and pets. Japan’s Mitsui & Co., which has a nutrition and agriculture business unit, led the funding round. Other investors included the Singapore investment firm Temasek along with earlier investors Cargill, Pangaea Ventures, AquaSpark, and others. On April 26, Calysta and Cargill broke ground on a commercial-scale manufacturing plant for FeedKind at Cargill’s President’s Island property in Memphis. Set to begin production in 2019, the plant will have an initial capacity of 20,000 metric tons per year but could expand to as much as 200,000 metric tons after a second phase is completed. The companies say the Memphis facility will be the world’s largest gas fermentation operation. The site will eventually house 20 fermenters, each about 450 m2 in size, and several dryers the height of six-story buildings.—MELODY
BOMGARDNER
CREDIT: DUPONT
Calysta raises money for fish food
Greenpeace warns about Chinese projects
