Shell said it would work with a university in Singapore to launch a $3.4 million research project over the next three years to convert carbon dioxide into fuels and petrochemicals, Reuters reported. Researchers from shell and the National University of Singapore (NUS) will develop processes to produce ethanol and n-propanol from carbon dioxide, a byproduct of industrial processes. Ethanol and n-propanol can be mixed with gasoline to produce cleaner fuels, or further dehydrated to produce ethylene and propylene, the basic components of plastics. However, the National University of Singapore said that the current method of converting carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals could not produce the chemicals needed to meet the needs of industry.
