Dana Gas and UK firm Levidian are partnering to build the Sharjah Graphene Park in the UAE. The project uses microwave plasma technology to crack methane into hydrogen and solid graphene, preventing the carbon from entering the atmosphere as CO2. The initial phase targets 15 tonnes of graphene per year with an investment of up to 5 million dollars. The partners aim to scale production to hundreds of tonnes to supply industries like construction, battery manufacturing, and electronics.
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Interesting use of methane cracking. Instead of burning the gas and capturing the CO2, they are turning the carbon into a solid material. The scale is small for now, but it is a practical way to handle gas feedstocks.
15 tonnes per year is a tiny pilot. I am more interested in the energy requirements for that microwave plasma process. If they need massive amounts of electricity to run the LOOP systems, the carbon math changes. Do we know the energy intensity per tonne of graphene?
The real question is how this fits into carbon accounting. If the graphene is embedded in concrete, it is effectively permanent sequestration. I wonder if the UAE is planning to link this to a formal credit framework or if it is just a materials play.
Adding graphene to concrete is a great theory, but the cost of the additive usually kills the project in the real world. Unless they can get the price of this graphene down significantly, it will stay in high end specialty builds.
