Milestone reached for ground-breaking trial to convert carbon dioxide into cleaning products

Image: BASF SE

12 December 2024

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Scientists trying to convert carbon dioxide into materials used in cleaning products have reached a key milestone by producing ethanol from carbon dioxide captured from papermills in Cumbria and Scotland.

Their work is part of the Flue2Chem project – an Innovate UK-sponsored consortium spearheaded by Unilever and SCI – a UK-based global science hub - and made up of 17 businesses, universities and start-ups. They are collaborating to develop a new supply chain that uses an alternative source of carbon to replace virgin fossil fuel as a raw material for everyday household goods.

If successfully deployed at scale, the innovative approaches developed by Flue2Chem partners have the potential to reduce reliance on petrochemical extraction for many everyday consumer products, helping the UK move closer to its net zero goals. 

In April 2024, biogenic carbon began being captured from the flue gas emissions at the Holmen Iggesund Paperboard Mill in Cumbria, northern England. A second carbon capture trial is currently taking place at the UPM Caledonian papermill in Irvine, Scotland.  

This latest milestone is the culmination of work carried out over the last 20 months by scientists at the international chemical company, BASF to develop a new catalyst to convert captured CO2 into ethanol. By integrating cutting-edge computational modelling and machine learning alongside testing under real conditions, scientists were able to more accurately predict the properties such catalysts would need to optimise the production of ethanol.

Ethanol is important because it can  be used to make a wide range of useful chemicals with applications across the cosmetics, industrial and pharmaceutical sectors.

With this novel catalyst and process, the research stands to unlock a number of applications for the use of CO2 as a more sustainable raw material.

Sharon Todd, Chief Executive of SCI said:

“Flue2Chem is a unique project on three fronts – our scientists are working with innovative new chemistry, the potential supply chain we’ve brought together is entirely new, and finally the level of collaboration between our diverse range of 17 partners is significant.  

“With the right business investment and regulatory environment, these new technologies can help reach the UK’s ambitions for growth by seizing opportunities to lead in new and emerging sectors. New manufacturing hubs across the UK could also be created - offering skilled jobs carrying out these technologies throughout a whole new supply chain.”  

Darren Budd, Commercial Director at BASF in the UK and Ireland added:

“We’re proud to play our part in the Flue2Chem collaboration using smart chemistry to successfully demonstrate how captured CO2 can be converted into ethanol, a key building block for many household cleaning products and chemical processes.

“Converting CO2 into ethanol is a key process if we are going to be successful in unlocking the potential of alternative raw materials needed for a net zero future. Further collaboration is needed to enable these processes to work at scale. We need to embed these innovations into existing chemical value and supply chains, so they have greater potential to be scaled up quickly and efficiently.”

Notes to editors:


  1. Flue2Chem is a two-year demonstration project supported by Innovate UK. It seeks to redesign and validate a UK value chain to convert valuable carbon emissions into sustainable materials for consumer products. Academic and industry specialists are assessing the environmental and  socio-economic implications of this new potential raw material source. 
  2. The project aims to support the UK’s goal to become net zero by 2050 by examining an alternative source of carbon to virgin fossil fuels for industry.
  3. The manufacture of products from petrochemicals uses the equivalent of approximately 2.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide globally each year.
  4. The Flue2Chem partners are BASF, Carbon Clean, CCU International, CPI - part of the UK Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult, the Confederation of Paper Industries, Croda, Holmen Iggesund, Johnson Matthey, LanzaTech, Reckitt, SCI, Tata Steel, Unilever, the University of Sheffield and the University of Surrey
  5. The Flue2Chem partnership began in December 2022 and is on track to publish its findings in June 2025.  This includes addressing potential barriers to making the technology a reality and identifying potential policy levers might need to be considered, e.g. tax incentives for using the new technology.
  6. The project will cost an estimated £5 million, with £2.7 million of support from Innovate UK.
  7. The UK Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Industry is worth an estimated £73 billion. Source: Chemical Industries Association.
  8. The global market for non-ionic surfactants is estimated to be worth £11.5 billion per year and is estimated to grow by around 5% per year until 2030. Source: Marketsandmarkets.com
  9. SCI Where Science Meets Business is a unique global multidisciplinary network connecting scientists, business people, students and other key players involved in science-based innovation. SCI (formed in 1881 as the Society of Chemical Industry) promotes innovation via its international network to advance the commercial application of science into industry for the benefit of society.
  10. For further information on Flue2Chem please contact Rachel Dunachie at marcomms@soci.org Phone: 00 44 (0) 7793 902318

For further information please contact:

Rachel Dunachie

+44 (0) 7793 902318

Email Rachel: marcomms@soci.org