Unlikely Allies: Industrial Leaders Demand Government Push for Green Solutions

Pointing to a plastic water bottle, Nikolich told attendees that “de-risking” some of the investment from industry will require government mandates that encourage consumers to purchase products with more sustainable content.

 “All of a sudden recycled material has a value; all of a sudden biomaterial has a value because it's required to be,” he said. “So this is where I believe the government can help.”

Nikolich painted a picture of a complex process for commercializing biobased materials while fielding questions from moderator Michael Schwartz, chief strategy officer at Elysian Carbon Management. New materials take five or more years to develop, often requiring $800 million to $2 billion for commercialization, he said.

Nikolich discussed Braskem’s plans to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions, which are attributed to operations and energy use. The Brazilian-based petrochemical company is looking to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 15% by 2030. Much of that focus is around the energy-intensive cracker operations.

Brazil provides some advantages for meeting those goals since 85% of its electricity comes from renewable energy, Nikolich said. The company also has set a target to sell 1 million tons of polymers that contain recycled content by 2030.

But ethical development of those biobased feedstocks is an important consideration to avoid creating another environmental crisis, Nikolich said.

For instance, in Brazil, Braskem is looking to develop more sugarcane-based ethanol. However, Nikolich cautioned, it’s important that new crops don’t arise from deforested land. Instead, the company is looking to source sugarcane from former cattle-grazing fields in Brazil that have been converted to crop production.

Nuclear, Hydrogen and the Role of Partners

In a previous session, several speakers also talked about the importance of cross-industry and government partnerships to drive innovation. Casey Nault, a senior vice president from U.S.-based precious metals producer Coeur Mining, cited Canada as a model for balancing environmental, social and industrial needs.

Specifically, he mentioned Canada’s work supporting First Nations’ investments in energy projects.  The company is considering a partnership with First Nations groups for an off-grid project near the Yukon territory.

Coeur Mining is exploring the possibility of modular nuclear reactors to power that project, Nault said. The technology will not be commercially available until the 2030s, but it is emerging as an energy solution for heavy mining activities in remote areas.

While Nault praised Canada’s efforts, he said U.S. lawmakers are calling for more mineral and energy resources but continue to recommend policies that stall new projects.

“It's a little hard to reconcile funding opportunities on one hand and a series of recommendations on the other hand that make it very difficult to bring projects online,” he said.

Carrie Song, a senior vice president for renewable products with Finnish sustainable fuels company Neste, said her company collaborates with energy infrastructure companies like Kinder Morgan to help them convert their tanks to store Neste’s renewable fuel.

“The ability of collaborating with different infrastructure partners has been one of the key success factors to support our industry, not just us but all the players in the industry to be able to expand and also for our customers to have the ability to adopt the renewable solution faster,” she said.

The company also works with municipalities and local governments to help collect waste streams, like used cooking oil, to be converted into fuels, Song said.

Holcim, a building materials manufacturer, has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and nonprofit groups to help identify environmentally friendly technologies, said Michael LeMonds, the company’s chief sustainability officer. The company has an internal ventures arm that evaluates which investments make the most sense.

Hydrogen is among the technologies the company has tested, but it's still significantly more costly than natural gas, LeMonds said.

“But I think what we're seeing is if there's a demand for the fuel similar to renewable diesel, similar to biodiesel production costs will go down, and then it could become economical,” he said.