This key chemical is super dirty to make. Can an… | Canary Media

These high-profile pilots are using electricity to slash CO2 emissions from making ethylene — the building block of materials from plastic to PVC.

Three big projects aiming to electrify ethylene An ethylene plant can, at first glance, resemble a dystopian version of the Wizard of Oz’s Emerald City, with rows of tall, skinny towers reaching up to the sky. Ethane gas flows into each towering structure and moves through a tube, where it’s diluted with steam and pushed through a massive furnace. Temperatures can reach as high as 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit (900°C), achieved by burning fossil fuels. The heat instantly cracks apart the molecular bonds in ethane to produce ethylene gas, which is then separated from co-products and piped into…

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