LCA reveals chloromethylfurfural (CMF) produced through Origin’s process is carbon negative

The versatile chemical building block 5-chloromethylfurfural (CMF, CAS 1623‑88‑7), and coproducts produced by Origin Materials’ proprietary biomass-to-chemicals platform including furfural, levulinic acid, and hydrothermal carbon (HTC), are all expected to be highly carbon negative when produced at commercial scale, according to the newly released Life Cycle Assessment authored by Deloitte.

The Life Cycle Assessment studies Origin Materials’ products across 4 environmental criteria: climate change, ecosystem quality, resource consumption, and human health. The study demonstrates significant climate change benefit at commercial production scale, showing expected climate change impact when using sustainably grown North American softwood as follows: -1.2 kg CO2 eq/kg CMF; -1.7 kg CO2 eq/kg HTC; -1.5 kg CO2 eq/kg furfural; -1.4 kg CO2 eq/kg levulinic acid.

5-chloromethylfurfural is a highly flexible raw material for many applications including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) through precursors para-xylene (pX) and purified terephthalic acid (PTA), as well as numerous commodity and specialty chemicals including furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), monomers, surfactants, plasticizers and many more. Origin’s proprietary biomass-to-chemicals technology directly converts lignocellulosic plant-based carbon into chemical building blocks in a highly economical process, without the need for an independent saccharification step.

“Our mission is to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials,” says Origin Materials CEO John Bissell. “Nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions come from manufacturing materials and products. Our carbon-negative building blocks play a critical role in shifting away from petroleum as the main input to the material economy, towards carbon-negative materials and a sustainable future.”

“We’re giving the chemical industry the tools it needs to lower the greenhouse gas emissions of countless products by embracing sustainable, carbon negative chemistries that are decoupled from petrochemical economics,” says Dr. Robin Gibson, Origin’s Director of Business Development. “Compared with petroleum, Origin’s furan chemistry platform offers lower costs, dramatically reduced climate change impact, and the ability to utilize vast and global resources like timber residues and waste biomass. This innovation means that Origin can offer sustainable and economical solutions to at least a third of the global chemical industry.”

Origin Materials is a chemical technology company enabling the world’s transition to sustainable materials. Origin is headquartered in California with a facility under construction in Ontario, Canada. Origin’s technology produces building-block furanic intermediates from biomass.

www.originmaterials.com