What are the three sources of renewable carbon for the chemicals industry?

If the future of the chemicals industry lies in renewable carbon, how do we get a hold of it? Jed Thomas

As the world moves away from fossil carbon, the chemicals industry is turning to renewable sources of carbon to produce plastics, fuels, and specialty chemicals.

Instead of extracting new carbon from oil and gas, three primary sources are being explored: recycling, carbon capture and utilization (CCU), and biomass.

Each of these approaches presents unique advantages and challenges, shaping the future of sustainable chemistry.

But why not only recycling? Well, it’s all about the fact that some carbon will be lost during each conversion.

Having multiple sources ensures that our supply isn’t diminishing year on year.

Recycling

One of the most immediate ways to reduce fossil carbon use in the chemicals industry is through mechanical and chemical recycling of existing carbon-based materials.

Mechanical recycling involves physically processing waste plastics and other materials into new products.

This approach works well for simple, high-quality polymers like PET and HDPE but struggles with mixed, degraded, or contaminated waste streams.

Chemical recycling offers a more flexible solution by breaking down plastics and other carbon-containing waste into their molecular building blocks.

Technologies such as pyrolysis, gasification, and depolymerization enable the recovery of monomers, which can then be repolymerized into virgin-quality plastics. The challenge is scaling these technologies while ensuring they remain economically viable and energy efficient.

Recycling is essential for circularity, reducing demand for virgin carbon and preventing waste from ending up in landfills or the environment.

However, it cannot be the sole solution, as materials degrade over multiple recycling cycles, and some fraction is inevitably lost.

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Carbon capture and utilization (CCU)

A promising alternative to fossil-based feedstocks is carbon capture and utilization (CCU), which involves capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) from industrial emissions or the atmosphere and converting it into valuable chemicals.

One of the most scalable approaches in this field is methanol production using green hydrogen and captured CO₂.

Methanol is a key platform chemical used in fuels, plastics, and solvents.

By reacting green hydrogen (produced via electrolysis using renewable electricity) with captured CO₂, industries can create e-methanol, a fully renewable alternative to fossil-derived methanol.

This process not only reduces emissions but also provides a pathway to integrate intermittent renewable energy into the chemicals sector.

Other CCU technologies include electrochemical CO₂ reduction, where CO₂ is converted directly into useful products like formic acid, ethylene, and other hydrocarbons.

Additionally, microbial and enzymatic processes are being developed to biologically convert CO₂ into valuable compounds.

Despite its promise, CCU faces challenges such as high energy requirements, scalability issues, and infrastructure development.

For CCU to compete with fossil carbon economically, advances in efficiency and reductions in renewable electricity costs are crucial.

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Biomass

Biomass has long been used as a renewable source of carbon for biofuels, bioplastics, and bio-based chemicals.

It includes materials such as agricultural residues, forestry by-products, energy crops, and organic waste.

One of the most widely used biomass-based chemical pathways is the fermentation of sugars and starches into bioethanol, which can be further processed into ethylene and other petrochemical substitutes.

Lignocellulosic biomass—composed of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin—is an abundant but more complex feedstock, requiring advanced processing technologies like enzymatic hydrolysis and thermochemical conversion.

Biomass-derived hydrocarbons, such as bio-based polyethylene (Bio-PE) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), offer direct drop-in replacements for fossil-derived plastics.

Meanwhile, biogas from anaerobic digestion provides a renewable source of methane, which can be converted into hydrogen and syngas for chemical production.

However, biomass use comes with land-use concerns, competition with food production, and potential biodiversity impacts.

Sustainable sourcing, waste-to-chemical strategies, and second-generation biomass technologies are essential to ensuring that biomass does not replicate the environmental issues associated with traditional agriculture.

Combining each of these sources

The transition to renewable carbon will require a combination of recycling, CCU, and biomass.

No single solution can entirely replace fossil carbon on its own, but together, these three strategies offer a viable pathway toward a circular and sustainable chemical industry.

Recycling provides the fastest route to reducing fossil carbon demand, but faces challenges in material degradation and collection efficiency.

CCU offers a long-term, scalable solution for converting CO₂ into valuable chemicals but is currently limited by energy costs and infrastructure needs.

Biomass remains an important feedstock but must be managed responsibly to avoid ecological trade-offs.

By integrating these approaches and advancing technological innovation, the chemicals industry can significantly reduce its reliance on fossil resources, closing the carbon loop and mitigating climate impact.

The future of chemistry is not just low-carbon—it’s renewable.