The World’s First Net-Zero Ethylene Facility to See the Light of Day in Canada

The USA based chemicals major, Dow Inc., on Wednesday, unveiled its plans to build the world’s first ethylene and its derivatives complex enabling net-zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions at its Saskatchewan, Alberta site by 2030. The planned facility will boast a net-zero steam cracker of 1.8 million metric tons per year capacity with an expected start date in 2027.

The new brownfield project will be enhancing the ethylene, propylene and their derivatives capacity to triple times the existing one. The project will employ a world-class furnace design for efficient energy consumption. The plant operation will enable the conversion of cracker off-gas into hydrogen that will be further utilized as a clean fuel for the production process, while the carbon dioxide captured will be transported to a third-party storage facility. Furthermore, the company is also looking forward to reedifying the existing technologies to make the entire site 100% free of carbon emissions. The new project jointly with the existing facility is expected to produce 3.2 million metric tons of zero-carbon ethylene and polyethylene derivatives which will facilitate the company to earn an additional USD 1billion EBITA per year across the value chain.

Ethylene is an important fundamental chemical in the petrochemical industry as it is the upstream source for the manufacturing of many industrially important chemicals like vinyls, glycols, acrylics and solvents which are used in nearly every sector like plastics, packaging, paints and coatings, automotive, construction, medical equipment etc.

As per ChemAnalyst, the prospect of launching a net-zero ethylene facility is an outstanding initiative amid the increasing environmental pollution and growing pressure from environmentalists. The new facility will add to the supply of ethylene in the North American region, and thereby support Dow Inc. in maintaining the market competitiveness. The facility will also be beneficial in supporting the company’s long-term goals of attaining carbon neutrality and minimizing plastic wastage.