UOP, USC To Develop Methanol From CO₂

UOP has signed an agreement with the University of Southern California's Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute to develop technologies to make clean-burning fuels from carbon dioxide. Under the agreement, UOP will have exclusive rights to commercialize chemistries developed at USC for transforming carbon dioxide into methanol and dimethyl ether. Honeywell has separately been pursuing technologies to make chemicals from methanol. "The development of this technology could have significant impact on global energy security and global warming by converting carbon dioxide into useful products," says George A. Olah, director of the Loker Institute. Olah received the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in carbocation chemistry.