European project plans plastic from green methanol

The Danish investment giant A.P. Moller Holding has created a business named Vioneo to make polypropylene and polyethylene in Antwerp, Belgium, from green methanol rather than oil or natural gas. Moller plans to invest almost $1.7 billion in the project, which would be the first of its kind in Europe. Moller has not disclosed the technology it intends to use but says the approach is “innovative and proven” and will be powered by renewable energy. Green methanol can be made by reacting carbon dioxide with hydrogen produced via water electrolysis powered by renewable energy. It can also be made from biomethane derived from agricultural, forestry, or food waste. Green methanol could be supplied by C2X, a firm Moller founded in 2023 that aims to produce 3 million metric tons (t) of the chemical annually by 2030. A Moller division, the shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk, has begun powering some of its