Mitsui Chemicals to Build Pilot Plant to Make Methanol From CO2

Tokyo, Aug. 25 (Jiji Press)–Mitsui Chemicals Inc. said Monday it will build a pilot facility that will use carbon dioxide and hydrogen to make methanol, a material for plastics.

The company will spend about 1.5 billion yen to build the world’s first such pilot facility in its plant in Takaishi, Osaka Prefecture. The new facility will have an annual methanol production capacity of about 100 tons.

Construction of the plant will start in October, with its operations to start by the end of March 2009. Mitsui Chemicals hopes to put the new technology into practical use in about one year.

The use of CO2 instead of crude oil as a raw material in the manufacturing of plastics, if industrialized, could help cut CO2 emissions substantially, Mitsui Chemicals said.END

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