New startup believes it has a way to cheaply convert methane to ethylene

Everyone knows that over the next few decades, petroleum prices are going to rise dramatically as reserves begin to dwindle. At the same time, new natural gas deposits seem to be popping up every day, so much so that its price continues to fall. What everyone may not know is that methane can be extracted from natural gas, and rather cheaply at that. This is why MIT professor Angela Belcher, a board member of Siluria, has been focusing her research on ways to use methane to make ethylene. She’s developed a virus-based template technology that can be used to guide growing nanowire catalysts comprised of inorganic crystals. Afterwards the template can be burned away, leaving just the inorganic surface. That, the folks at Siluria believe, will provide the perfect platform for discovering the perfect catalyst for replacing oil with methane when making ethylene.

Success for Siluria in this endeavor would mean success for everyone else as well, as it would mean lower prices for ethylene and the products that are made from it. It also appears that the new process would require less energy and water than current methods, meaning the resultant products would be greener.

One dark spot on the horizon however is the growing unease that has cropped up regarding some products made from ethylene, particularly those that wind up as polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a clear plastic used to make, among other things, baby bottles. Some research has suggested that becomes of its impact on hormones, it might be causing health problems for people, such as cancers of the endocrine or reproductive systems.

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Siluria Technologies promo video

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