The goal of the EU funded project Carbon4PUR is to use CO/CO2 streams from the steel industry as a feedstock for intermediate chemicals that can be transformed into rigid foams and coatings, Marseille Fos said in its release. During the first 18 months, a wide range of technologies have been developed and tested to clean the steel gas and transform it into intermediates. The partners will now develop the best technologies further to be able to produce perfectly tailored intermediates for the coatings and rigid foam applications.
The goal is to decide at the end of the project if the developed technology can be upscaled and implemented economically at the harbor of Marseille Fos. This is why Carbon4PUR organized a stakeholder workshop to inform and include the local authorities. One aspect for the region is the promise to bring new value to the region by creating jobs and securing a sustainable production of chemicals while lowering the existing steel mill emissions. Another aspect is the implication of the local authorities with building permits and other authorizations. This stakeholder event gave everyone the opportunity to discuss these issues and possibilities and make sure that the visions and expectations were aligned.
Making the local industry more sustainable by lowering emissions and creating a circular economy is the common goal for the port and the region. Valorizing CO2 is seen as part of the solution, and thus the presented projects are all working towards that common goal. The presentations from research, industry and politics showed different aspects and challenges of CO2 utilization, but also success stories and a big potential in the presented projects. The different projects research and implement electrolysis, methanation and methanol production as renewable energy storage, micro-algae production that can be used in the chemical industry or as biofuels and the direct production of chemical building blocks.