What are the emerging alternative production routes for ethylene beyond traditional steam cracking?

What are the emerging alternative production routes for ethylene beyond traditional steam cracking?
While steam cracking remains dominant, several alternative routes are advancing. China's Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics completed industrial pilot testing in 2019 for direct coal-to-syngas-to-olefins, bypassing the methanol intermediate—a process with lower water consumption and no wastewater discharge. Methane oxidative coupling reached demonstration scale in 2015 via Siluria's 365-ton/year Texas plant. CO2 electroreduction to ethylene, explored by Braskem with UIC, could cut carbon intensity 20-30% using renewable power. Waste plastic pyrolysis oil feeding into steam crackers is already commercial, with SABIC producing certified circular polymers for Unilever packaging. CAS researchers also demonstrated room-temperature hydrogen splitting on Au/TiO2 catalysts under UV light to convert CO2 directly to ethane/ethylene—a promising but early-stage lab breakthrough.