The Catalyst Review October 2024 - 2

The Catalyst Review
An industry-focused, leading edge catalysis technology reference from The Catalyst Group Resources
Editorial Note:
In September's Special Feature, Table 1 noted Porocel as one of the large adsorbent suppliers. Porocel has
been part of Evonik since 2020, so the table should have noted Evonik as the supplying company. Our sincere
apologies to Evonik and all subscribers for the misprint.
HOT TOPICS
Our October Special Feature (SF) highlights the increasing need for critical materials recycling
(CMR) starting with the most well established one in precious metals (Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir) to be followed
by additional SFs in this Series throughout the next year, covering Li, Co, Ta, and others. This SF
provides both interesting historical, and logistical information on the suppliers and the recycling
market. Why is this important? Critical metals are needed not only to produce catalysts but in
numerous materials science applications such as batteries, electrolyzers, fuel cells, electronics
and even magnets, are required to produce and deploy green and advanced consumer and
defense products, from iPhones to detection systems. To take one highly relevant example, PEM
electrolyzers to produce green hydrogen currently require Ir metal, in which limited amounts
mean that we can't scale up this technology without thrifting its use or finding a substitute. So,
global management of these resources is paramount to everyone's success.
Another important change in this month's Review is the feedback we obtained from readers to
expand the details under bullet points of our Hot Topics. We heard you and hope you all agree
this change is an improvement. We are always listening to readers about how to implement
improvements, so don't be shy in letting us know your thoughts.
October Hot Topics!
Leading North America Activities:
● Oil Sands Go Canadian! Chevron has just announced it will sell its Canadian assets to Canadian
Natural Resources (CNR) for $6.5B. That's big news by itself but have you also noticed that like
the US, Canadian assets in Oil & Gas have also caught the consolidation fever? Part of this has
been caused by the Trans Mountain pipeline becoming operational in May, allowing more West
Coast export to Asian markets generally increasing market demand outside of the US Another
factor has been the production cuts, as well as tribulations of OPEC+ making the Canadian
resources more desirable, including growing LNG facilities. Chevron says it will divest of
$10-15B in assets as it gets ready to complete its $53B deal to acquire Hess.
● Oil Industry Urges Trump to Maintain IRA- Perhaps it is somewhat intuitive but major N. American
Oil & Gas companies have urged both sides of the election to maintain the IRA framework as
a necessity to keep making progress on the energy transition. Perhaps the recent hurricanes
wreaking havoc coming out of the Gulf Coast into Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia has
reminded everyone that we have environmental challenges.
Smaller Considerations:
● Will Green Ammonia Take-off- Heralded as both a fuel substitute and a future hydrogen carrier,
green ammonia avoiding the historical Haber-Bosch process seemed like an obvious winner.
However, while we see the first ships being piloted with new engines by Cummins and others,
there still seems a significant hold up in deployment. Closer examination suggests there are
several hurdles, like the cost of green hydrogen from electrolyzers at scale but also a challenge
due to the commodity pricing of ammonia which, for decades, has been a fertilizer and urea
raw material. It seems there is a significant lack of off-take agreements being supported which
reinforces this view.
THE CATALYST REVIEW
(ISSN 0898-3089)
October 2024, Volume 37, Issue 10
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MANAGING EDITOR
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CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
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Michele Aresta, PhD
Miguel A. Banares, PhD
Carlos A. Cabrera, MBA
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Avelino Corma, PhD
Frits Dautzenberg, PhD
Jayant D. Divey
George Huber, PhD
Michelle Lynch, PhD
Vishwas Pangarkar, PhD
Stephany Romanow
Gadi Rothenberg, PhD
Woody Shiflett, PhD
Marcio Wagner da Silva, PhD
Stefan Wieland, PhD
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The Catalyst Review
October 2024

The Catalyst Review October 2024

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