The Catalyst Review July 2024 - 4

Commercial News
Evonik Expands Sodium Methylate
Production in Argentina to Meet Growing
Demand for Biofuels
Evonik's Rosario
factory, located
in the Sante
Fé Province of
Argentina, has
announced
an increase in
its capacity to
produce sodium
methylate. This
growth is in response to the region's increasing demand for
biofuels, the capacity will rise annually by 50%, from 60,000
tons to 90,000 tons. Increased output of high-performance
sodium methylate catalysts is intended to lower production
costs and boost productivity of biodiesel throughout
South America. The news is especially significant for the
region, given the Brazilian government's recent increase in
mandated quotas for blending fossil fuel with 15% biodiesel
(B15) by 2025. Source: Evonik, 7/12/2024.
Covestro Enters 'Concrete Talks' Over
Potential €12B Takeover by Adnoc
Covestro and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) have
begun " concrete negotiations " regarding Adnoc's possible
purchase offer, which might put Covestro's valuation at
close to €12B. The proposed offer price of €62 per Covestro
share, as suggested by Adnoc, is the starting point for
the negotiations, the statement stated. According to this,
Covestro is worth roughly €11.7B. Covestro states the offer
price is contingent to the outcomes of the confirmatory due
diligence and consensus over the terms of an investment
agreement. Source: Chemical Week, 6/24/2024.
Shell to Build Carbon Capture and Storage
Projects in Canada
Shell has announced the Final Investment Decisions (FID)
for the Polaris and Atlas projects. Polaris, a carbon capture
program, will capture approximately 650,000 tonnes of
CO₂ annually from Shell's refinery and chemicals facility.
Partnering with ATCO EnPower, Shell's Atlas Carbon Storage
Hub will permanently store CO₂ captured by the Polaris
project underground. Both programs will take place at
the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park, Scotford in Alberta,
Canada where the Quest carbon capture and storage (CCS)
complex has securely captured and stored more than nine
million tonnes of CO₂ since 2015. Both projects are intended
to reduce emissions created by the company as well as
attaining climate goals set by the Paris Agreement. Polaris
and Atlas will begin activity at the end of 2028.
Source: Shell, 6/26/2024.
4
The Catalyst Review
New York Legislators Pass Climate
Superfund Bill
New York legislators passed the Climate Change Superfund
Act that now awaits the governor's signature for approval.
If passed, New York will be the second US state to require
compensation from non-renewable energy companies due
to their part in climate change. Three dozen companies
will be expected to pay a total of $3B per year over the
course of 25 years. Businesses who have contributed more
than one billion metric tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent
emissions from 2000 to 2018 and reach a certain criteria
for operating within New York will be affected. If imposed,
the law is likely to be challenged. Many agree that a federal
carbon tax should be implemented in order to further
curb future emissions rather than focusing on past actions.
Although the cost will not cover the full amount of damages
to infrastructure due to climate change, the payments
will be used to create climate-related upgrades, while at
least a third will be used for resources for underserved
communities. Source: WSJ, 6/11/2024.
United Arab Emirates: TotalEnergies
Strengthens its Position in the Emirates
Through its Partnership in Ruwais LNG
TotalEnergies joins the Ruwais LNG project with a 10%
interest along with ADNOC (60%), Shell (10%), bp (10%), and
Mitsui (10%). Ruwais LNG is a liquefied natural gas (LNG)
project in Al Ruwais Industrial City in Abu Dhabi initiated by
ADNOC in June 2024. The project will use clean energy from
UAE's grid to power two fully electric liquefaction trains
with a total capacity of 9.6 million tons per year, making it
the world's lowest-carbon intensity LNG plants. The project
will begin in the second half of 2028. Source: TotalEnergies,
7/10/2024.
ExxonMobil Adds Air Liquide to World's
Largest Low-Carbon Hydrogen Project
ExxonMobil and Air Liquide have agreed to work towards
a low-carbon hydrogen and low-carbon ammonia project.
Using Air Liquide's existing pipeline, low-carbon hydrogen
will be transported from ExxonMobil's complex in Baytown,
Texas to suppliers. Air Liquide will also construct and utilize
four Large Modular Air separation units (LMAs) to provide
9,000 metric tons of oxygen and up to 6,500 metric tons
of nitrogen to the operation daily. The hydrogen facility will
become the world's largest and is anticipated to create
1 billion cubic feet of low-carbon hydrogen per day,
and more than 1 million tons of ammonia annually while
containing more than 98% of the CO₂ emissions created.
ExxonMobil and Air Liquide intend to expand the low-carbon
hydrogen industry in the US Gulf Coast to assist customers
in the decarbonization of their businesses. Source:
ExxonMobil, 6/24/2024.
July 2024
The Catalyst Review July 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Catalyst Review July 2024
