The three companies have decided to create a collaboration under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to invest in and develop carbon capture technology. The overall aim for all three companies with this investment and development in carbon capture technologies is to develop a high-performance separator membrane. The other aim is to research and discover new opportunities within different areas in which the new technology could be used.

Each company has something unique and innovative to bring to this collaboration. SK Innovation and SK IET have both been working on their advance into the carbon capture, utilisation and storage market. Within this goal to accelerate their advances within this market, these two companies decided to begin work with the lithium-ion battery separator (LiBS) technology. SK IET and SK Innovation decided to focus on LiBS technology as it aligned with their aim to achieve ‘All Time Net Zero’ which is a step towards offsetting all carbon dioxide their businesses have emitted since being established, by 2062. Continuing to work to this goal SK Innovation and SK IET joined together and made an investment in Air Rane. This technology is a gas separator membrane developer, which they invested in with the aim to begin the development of membranes which will be used for carbon separation and capture from air.

On the other hand, Lotte Chemical has been operating a carbon capture demonstration facility since 2021, at its Yeosu petrochemical complex. The purpose of this plant is to manufacture synthetic resins along with other chemical products. Now there is an opportunity for the companies to combine their knowledge and technology, due to the advancement Lotte made last year. The development involved Lotte successfully completing the design of a carbon capture process for a carbon capture process, which will work with gas separator membranes and is suitable for the petrochemical industry. This development is a pilot project as it is the first time a domestic chemical company has achieved it on a commercial scale. After this development has been accessed and verified it will present the perfect opportunity for the companies to collaborate, which is what they plan to do.

The head of SK Innovation’s portfolio division, Kang Dongsoo, commented, “The MOU will allow the three companies to combine SK Innovation’s R&D capabilities, SK IET’s separator membrane technology and Lotte Chemical’s carbon capture technology to create synergy.”