Decarbonization The Time for Renewable Methanol is Now

Related Vendors

Enerkem Inc.

REPSOL YPF

Elementar Analysensysteme GmbH

EDL Anlagenbau Gesellschaft mbH

Pörner Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH

Almost every sector around the world right from the chemical industry to the aviation industry are looking to decarbonize their operations. New technologies and even sustainable alternatives are being explored for this purpose. Renewable methanol or sustainable methanol is just one of these many new solutions that aims to slash and even eliminate carbon emissions for these sectors.

In recent years, the spotlight has been on the decarbonization of global industries in the background of growing pressure to cut carbon emissions and reach net zero emissions by 2050. Industry players are exploring and coming up with innovative solutions to move away from fossil fuels to more sustainable alternatives. Renewable methanol is one such example.

Methanol is mainly produced from fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil or coal, thus emitting significant emissions. It is considered as an important chemical and is used to produce numerous products such as plastics, paints, resins, fuels, chemicals, etc.

Renewable methanol also known as sustainable methanol is produced from renewable sources such as sustainable biomass (bio-methanol) or by combining green hydrogen (hydrogen produced from renewable electricity) with captured carbon dioxide (e-methanol) rather than fossil fuels. “Sustainable methanol is a molecule that has a low carbon intensity (CI), capable of substituting fossil fuels in multiple sectors (bunker fuel, road and chemicals),” shares Maude Lauzon, Director, Sustainability at Enerkem. “It is also a building block for other sustainable fuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel (with the Methanol-to-Jet pathway) or dimethyl ether (a clean-burning fuel that can support decarbonization of the off-grid energy sector).”

Strong growth predicted for sustainable methanol

The demand for sustainable methanol is now picking up since the past few years and is projected to rise significantly in the future. According to a press release by market research firm Research-And-Markets, the green methanol (or sustainable methanol) market size was estimated at 874.65 million dollars in 2023 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 30.92 % to reach 5.76 billion dollars by 2030.

Lauzon shares three main reasons behind sustainable methanol attracting so much attention from industry players since the past few years:

• Sustainable methanol is versatile: as highlighted above, methanol is a key product in the chemical and fuel industry that can serve multiple markets and therefore has a broad range of potential customers. Methanol is also versatile in the feedstock it can be produced from: municipal solid waste, construction and demolition wood waste, non-recyclable plastic mix, agricultural and forestry residues, etc.

• Sustainable methanol is competitive: customers are looking for the best ratio of CO₂-equivalent reduction per dollar spent. Sustainable methanol’s performance in this regard is ahead of the competition.

• Sustainable methanol burns cleaner and has a lower environmental impact than fossil fuels: produces nearly zero sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM), and significantly lower nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. Methanol produced from waste and biomass residues can have a CI reduction of 65 % to 90 % compared to fossil fuels. This results in a much lower environmental impact.

Renewable methanol: Bio-methanol and e-methanol

As mentioned above, bio-methanol is produced from sustainable biomass sources such as agricultural waste, forestry residues, and municipal solid waste. “There are multiple production pathways for bio-methanol,” mentions Lauzon. “Enerkem’s pathway relies on the gasification of heterogenous waste to create synthetic gas (syngas) that is rich in hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO). After the cleaning and conditioning steps, the syngas is converted into methanol.” She adds that the advantages of bio-methanol via waste gasification are: reduced virgin fossil fuel use, reduced emissions from landfills and incineration facilities, and reduced GHG and other air contaminants emissions.

The major multinational energy and petrochemical company Repsol has selected Enerkem’s technology for its Ecoplant project which aims to transform urban waste into renewable fuels and circular products. With a mega investment of over 800 million euros, the project is expected to become the first plant in Europe to produce renewable and circular methanol from waste through gasification. The new plant will have the capacity to process up to 400,000 tons of municipal solid waste per year and turn them into 240,000 tons of renewable fuels and circular products, shares a press release by Repsol. Scheduled to start-up in 2029, the Ecoplant will be integrated into Repsol’s industrial complex in Tarragona to accelerate the transformation of the center into a multi-energy hub that will continue to manufacture essential products for society, such as renewable fuels and circular materials, adds the release. The project is also expected to reduce the equivalent of 3.4 million tons of CO2 in greenhouse gas emissions during the first ten years of operation, according to the European Commission.

On the other hand, e-methanol is a synthetic fuel which is produced by combining green hydrogen with captured carbon dioxide. “Its advantages include having a low carbon intensity, helping to reduce CO₂ emissions, and supporting decarbonization efforts,” opines Lauzon. “Due to higher renewable electricity and H2 price, e-methanol is more expensive than bio-methanol.”

Recently, the Spanish firm Reolum which specializes in the development of green hydrogen, e-methanol, and biomass-fuelled combined heat and power technologies chose Johnson Matthey’s e-methanol technology for its La Robla Nueva Energia project in Spain. Claimed to be one of the largest e-methanol production plants in Europe, the project is expected to be complete by 2027. According to a press release by Johnson Matthey, the facility will be one half of an integrated green energy generation project called La Robla Green. This project is made up of two cutting-edge facilities: Roblum, a green energy generation plant that will power more than 50,000 households - and La Robla NE, an e-methanol plant. It adds that La Robla NE blends the CO₂ extracted from the biomass plant with green hydrogen to produce e-methanol, with the expectation of up to 140 kt/year.

Potential opportunities

The potential opportunities for both bio-methanol and e-methanol in the long term are immense. Lauzon explains, “In the short to medium term, there is opportunity for bio-methanol and low-carbon methanol in the maritime sector. International and national regulations are more developed in this sector, which drives demand towards sustainable fuels.” She continues, “In the medium to long term, the opportunity for bio-methanol, low-carbon methanol and e-methanol lies in SAF, chemicals and heating (as DME). E-methanol’s business case is more complex due to renewable electricity and H2 prices and availability. SAF scarcity and the resulting premiums will drive demand for the methanol-to-jet pathway. Regulations in the heating and chemicals sector remain insufficient at the moment to drive significant demand for sustainable alternatives.”

This shows that bio-methanol is the ‘go to’ solution for now and although e-methanol may still have a long way to go, it is certainly an option worth exploring in the future.

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