Tata has opened a carbon capture and utilisation plant at an industrial scale in the UK, marking a major milestone in the UK's net zero campaign.
The Cheshire chemicals factory will begin capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) from energy generation, a first in the UK for this technology.
Supported by a £4.2mnln government grant, Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE), one of Europe's leading producers of sodium bicarbonate, has invested £20mln in the project, and plans to capture 40,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions - the equivalent of taking 20,000 automobiles off the road - reducing its annual emissions by 10%.
The project will provide high-purity CO2 that could be used in products ranging from pharmaceuticals and food to glass and washing detergents, and is said to be very useful for "hard-to-abate" industries like steel, cement, or chemicals, which require high temperatures that make reliance on electricity difficult.
The plant is expected to be the forerunner to larger carbon capture developments in the north of England that have also been chosen for funding by the UK government.
In a world-first, CO2 captured from power plant emissions will be purified and used as a raw material in the production of sodium bicarbonate, to be called Ecokarb, which has been patented in the UK and would be exported to over 60 countries.
The company, whose owner is the Indian conglomerate Tata, says much of the sodium bicarbonate exported will be used in haemodialysis to treat people living with kidney disease
"The completion of the carbon capture and utilisation plant enables us to reduce our carbon emissions, whilst securing our supply of high purity carbon dioxide, a critical raw material, helping us to grow the export of our pharmaceutical grade products across the world," said Martin Ashcroft, managing director of Tata Chemicals Europe.
"With the support of our parent company, Tata Chemicals, and BEIS, we have been able to deliver this hugely innovative project, enabling our UK operations to take a major step in our carbon emissions reduction journey."
Shares were trading 1.13% higher at INR 801.60.