Technip Energies/LanzaTech to receive US$200 mn DOE funding for decarbonised ethylene facility
Technology firm Technip Energies and carbon recycling firm LanzaTech Global have been selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to begin award negotiations for up to US$200 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding as part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP).
The project Secure – standing for Sustainable Ethylene from CO2 Utilisation with Renewable Energy – aims to develop a transformational technology to produce sustainable ethylene from captured carbon dioxide (CO2). Technip Energies and LanzaTech announced their joint agreement to create this new pathway to sustainable ethylene at commercial scale in July 2023.
Estimated to reach a US$200 billion market by 2030 and with a global demand of over 231 million tonnes/year, ethylene is the key building block for thousands of chemicals and materials and is often called the “world’s most important chemical”. This new joint technology will be developed in the US for integration directly into existing commercial ethylene crackers, whereby it will capture CO2 emissions from the process and convert them into sustainable ethylene.
If awarded, up to US$200 million is expected to fund the design, engineering, construction, and equipment for a commercial-scale integrated technology unit in the U.S. Leveraging Technip Energies’ substantial industry expertise, this integrated solution has significant replication potential for ethylene crackers worldwide. Globally, there are an estimated 370 ethylene steam crackers, over 40% of which use Technip Energies’ technology, including eight in the US.
Project Secure expects to provide 200 construction jobs and 40 permanent jobs with benefits and training opportunities. Once the site is finalised, the project aims to hire from the local area with a focus on residents of disadvantaged communities.
Technip Energies and LanzaTech plan to approach community groups, unions, and labour groups to negotiate, review, and update agreements for quality jobs and community collaboration at the host site.
The project was selected as one of 33 projects across more than 20 states to receive up to a total of US$6 billion to demonstrate commercial-scale decarbonisation solutions needed to move energy-intensive industries toward net-zero while strengthening local economies, creating, and maintaining high-quality jobs, and slashing harmful emissions that jeopardize public health.
