Bayer Exploring How to Use Shale Gas as a Source of Benzene
Don S. Wardius, head of Renewable and Alternative Feedstocks Development at Bayer Material Science, said Bayer wants to see a research and development consortium organized to explore turning methane, a main component in natural gas, into benzene, as reported by the Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh Business Times. Bayer uses benzene as a raw material for the polymers in high-performance plastics. Wardius spoke at the Manufacturing Renaissance Series held in Pittsburgh on Thursday, which was a gathering of chemical executives, academics and lawmakers to discuss the attractive economics around using natural gas to create compounds required in plastics and other industries.