On March 4, Science published a breakthrough made by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of CAS involving a novel technology converting coal-based syngas directly to light olefins. The finding discards the traditional process which is accompanied by the water-consuming and energy-intensive water-gas-shift reaction and has thus, in principle, created a new route for coal conversion with a low consumption of water.

The achievement offers a brand new philosophy for the development of China's coal chemical industry and has broad applications that are likely to bring significant economic and social benefits. It is appraised as "a milestone" by domestic and international peers both from academia and industry.

Reaction mechanism of converting coal-based syngas directly to light olefins (Image by CAS)