Lower temperatures may be required when a suitable catalyst is used. The energy needed to manufacture a product can be reduced, and this will often lower costs as well as being environmentally desirable. Using less energy will reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels.

The use of a catalyst lowers the activation energy for the process. This is the main reason lower temperatures can often be used.

Ethanoic acid

The Monsanto and Cativa processes for the production of ethanoic acid use the same reactants, methanol and carbon monoxide. The newer iridium catalyst (Cativa process) has greatly reduced the energy requirement. See the ethanoic acid section for more details.