One of the promising alternatives to fossil fuels is methanol, in which the global shipping and logistics company Maersk, among others, is investing for its future fleet of container ships. Today, 99% of methanol production is based on coal and natural gas. However, DTU (Danish Technical University) scientists have developed a green method for producing biogas-based methanol. Is green methanol on the verge of breakthrough?
The global Green Methanol market is projected to grow from USD 1.9 billion in 2024 to USD 11.1 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 33.8% during the forecast period. This growth is propelled by stringent government regulations aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions and combating climate change. Green methanol, produced from renewable sources serves as a sustainable alternative to conventional methanol derived from fossil fuels. This regulatory environment incentivizes industries to adopt green methanol.
How to compete with grey methanol
Traditionally, green methanol is produced from CO2 by adding hydrogen. The hydrogen is obtained through a process called electrolysis, where water molecules are split into hydrogen and oxygen. But electrolysis requires a large energy supply in the form of electricity, and although electricity prices have fallen, it is still so expensive that this form of methanol production cannot compete with methanol produced from fossil sources.
DTU’s new method does not require the addition of hydrogen to form methanol. “When methanol is produced from biogas, methanol is green because it comes from a renewable source. Biogas is a product of degraded waste from households, agriculture, and production,” explains Associate Professor Philip Fosbøl, DTU Chemical Engineering, one of the researchers behind the project.
“We take biogas and turn it into synthesis gas, and then we take the synthesis gas and turn it into methanol. And we have a plant that can recycle and use CO2 together with hydrogen and produce even more methanol,” says Fosbøl.
Biogas based green methanol cheaper
Since hydrogen is produced by the formation of synthesis gas, there is no need to add hydrogen to produce methanol. However, since biogas contains one-third CO2, you need to recirculate CO2 together with hydrogen from the synthesis gas in order to also convert CO2 into methanol. This process is brand-new and patented, and is one of the secrets of great efficiency. The finished product consists of 95% pure methanol, and 99.9% can be achieved if additional hydrogen from another source is added. Overall, the method has been a breakthrough for green methanol production.
In the autumn of 2022, the technology was installed in a 40-foot container at Lemvig Biogas, and a year later the plant produced the first liters of methanol.
Methanol produced from biogas is much cheaper than traditional e-methanol produced from CO2 and hydrogen. But it is still more expensive than methanol produced from coal and natural gas. One solution that Fosbøl envisions is to tax black methanol for a period of time, making it more expensive than green methanol. In this way, green methanol can become profitable to produce. And as production methods are developed, green methanol will become competitive on normal market terms.
Is Green Methanol On The Verge Of Breakthrough?
The methanol plant that is now up and running is a demonstration plant. This means that it is no longer just on a laboratory scale, but has “moved into reality,” as the DTU associate professor phrases it. It can produce 400 liters of methanol daily if it runs 24/7, but the daily production has been less than 100 liters because production has only run during the daytime.
When DTU’s technology is fully developed, it will be able to produce up to 60,000 tons of methanol from a typical large Danish biogas producer. With an annual requirement of 750,000 tons of methanol for Maersk’s future fleet of 25 methanol-powered container ships, it will require a large number of biogas plants just to cover this need.
