Johnson Matthey, a UK-based sustainable technology company, has been selected by Perstorp AB to provide the methanol license and engineering services for its Project Air initiative in Sweden.
The project aims to substitute all the fossil methanol used by Perstorp in Europe as raw material for chemical products with sustainable methanol.
The plant is expected to be fully operational by 2026 and will use a first-of-a-kind Carbon Capture Utilisation (CCU) process at an industrial level to convert carbon dioxide emissions from Perstorp’s operations, along with biogas and renewable hydrogen, into sustainable methanol.
Methanol is a crucial building block in chemistry, used in the production of chemical intermediates like formaldehyde, acetic acid, and olefins, which are then used to manufacture everyday products such as furniture, cars, buildings, cleaning agents, glass, paint, animal feed, and electronics.
The Project Air initiative is a cooperation between Perstorp and Uniper and has received €97 million in funding from the European Union Innovation Fund, which supports green technology projects in the EU, and approximately €30 million from the Swedish Energy Agency.
Alberto Giovanzana, Managing Director of Catalyst Technologies at Johnson Matthey, stated that “moving away from fossil feedstock at the beginning of the value chain is crucial to reduce the overall carbon footprint of end products. Project Air demonstrates how JM’s low carbon solutions technologies can create more sustainable chemicals on a large-scale, significantly reducing the environmental impact of manufacturing.”
Håkan Kihlberg, VP of Strategic Projects at Perstorp, said that the initiative is essential for their journey towards climate neutrality and will help reduce the carbon footprint of thousands of end products. He hopes that it will inspire the chemical industry to find innovative ways of reducing fossil dependence. The project aligns with Johnson Matthey’s new strategy of utilizing their syngas expertise to help customers reduce CO₂ emissions from their existing operations.
The Project Air initiative represents a significant step towards achieving sustainable and low-carbon production in the chemical industry. By using CCU to create sustainable methanol, Perstorp and Uniper are demonstrating their commitment to reducing their carbon footprint and leading the way for other chemical companies to follow suit.
The cooperation between Perstorp, Uniper and Johnson Matthey highlights the importance of collaboration between industry leaders to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to address climate change.