In Illinois, CO2 electrolysis and conversion firm OCOchem has partnered with agribusiness giant ADM to build a field demonstration plant using OCOchem’s Carbon FluX Electrolyzer technology. The plant will be co-located within ADM’s corn processing complex in Decatur, Illinois and will convert biogenic CO2 from ADM’s ethanol production stream to formate molecules, which can be used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial products and applications.
“The partnership with ADM will help enable OCOchem to bring our CO2 Electrolysis process to a commercial scale and start meeting early customer demand for our carbon-negative, biogenic, sustainable formate products at competitive market prices,” said Todd Brix, Co-Founder and CEO of OCOchem, in a press statement.
Plant construction is expected to commence later this year and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2026. The companies also plan to collaborate on value chain development for formate molecules and derivatives such as formic acid, potassium formate, and ethyl formate.
These will target a range of existing and emerging applications, including crop protection, biomass upgrading, fertilizers, water treatment, liquid syngas carriers, industrial solvents, cleaning products, metal recovery, de-icing chemicals, active pharmaceutical ingredients, and flavors and fragrances.