THE FIGHT OF THE EUROPEAN INDUSTRY AGAINST THE CONTAMINATION NEEDS HELP

Frankfort (Reuters): To Filter the dioxide of carbon (CO2) by means of infested bathrooms of foam of microbes it is only one of the ideas developed by the main German industrial companies while they confront a growing pressure to reduce their emissions of gases of effect hothouse. While the world leaders get ready for the summit on the climate in Paris, companies like ThyssenKrupp or the branch of plastics of Bayer, Covestro, perceives as much a threat as an opportunity. 

The threat is that the biggest European punishments for the emissions will force to the companies to be relocated in places with less strict norms. That worries some in Germany that more CO2 than any other European country emits and whose economy depends in bigger measure of the factories that that of its neighbors or United States. The opportunity supposes to be able to use technology to transform the gases into useful substances, which would make to the companies German pioneers in the environmental protection. 

The steel group and technology ThyssenKrupp has created a consortium to process waste gases that CO2 contains in its factories and to transform it into products like ammonia for fertilizers or methanol that it serves like base of several chemical products. 

The denominated consortium Carbon2Chem that understands E.ON, Akzo Nobel, Abut and Evonik, takes 15 years of development work, but its concept of chemical reactor has a great transcendence. The iron makers and steel represent 6,7 percent of the global emissions of CO2, almost in their entirety through the gases of the steel factories.  

Under this outline, the additional energy that one needs in the process would come from the hydrogen generated in moments of excess of offer of Eolic energy and lot". The basic chemical products are derived mainly of petroleum and gas in these days", the director of Technology of Thyssen, Reinhold Achatz said. "There it is exactly where the iron gas would intervene after the successful launching of Carbon2Chem. Reutilized matters cousins that were already used in the steel" production would be. 

Other, as the not sought-after Brain Biotech, they are taking advantage of the power of the biology, putting the combustion gases in a bathroom of bubbles full with bacteria’s. Brain that carries out investigations in chemical, cosmetic companies and of feeding, he is carrying out genetic engineering with microbes so that the CO2 metabolizes in sour succinic, a matter prevails versatile whose uses include polyesters and alimentary preservatives. 

In other places of Europe, the Spanish oil group Repsol and their rival Shell also pays attention to the biology in separate projects, trying to impel the growth of the energy cultivations for bio combustibles when channeling the CO2 of the refinery gases in hothouses.  Although most of these systems are based partly on the financing of the public sector, the companies say that its disposition to spend millions in climatic projects will depend on maintaining the competitiveness as more obligations related with the energy are imposed. 

ThyssenKrupp, in front of the strong competition of its Chinese rivals, says that the high prices of the rights of emission of carbon threw a shade on the whole European steel industry and that their steel factories are already reaching the limits of the energy efficiency. With their partners, he plans to invest 1.000 million Eurus in a chemical reactor if their test pilot is successful. The politicians have to give us the opportunity that there is a steel industry in Germany in the year 2030 so we can put into practice this project", Achatz said. 

The concern is shared in the advice of the industrial companies: that the efforts of Berlin to head the fight against the effect hothouse only bear that the intensive operations in energy fewer leave to centers regulated abroad. After the G7 committed in June to abandon the fossil fuels for the end of the century, boss consultant of the petrochemical group BASF joked: "You also have to stop to breathe, because we all are emitting CO2." 

Beyond the rhetoric, the creative focuses multiply. Covestro, of Bayer, plans to put a line of production of polyurethane foam into operation next year that will replace some of the petrochemical materials of its production for CO2.Covestro it is trying to apply the concept that depends that some chemical catalysts make to the molecules of CO2 recombinase in something useful, to other production lines. Repsol is working in a project of polymers, denominated Neospol that is based on similar principles.