Enerkem secures offtake agreement with Methanex Corporation, the world’s largest supplier of methanol
15 September 2011
Enerkem Inc., a waste-to-biofuels and chemicals company, has entered into an offtake agreement with Methanex Corporation for the sale of methanol to be produced at Enerkem’s facility in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Methanol is a versatile chemical building block used in countless industrial and everyday consumer products. Enerkem Alberta Biofuels LP, Enerkem’s subsidiary in Edmonton, is expected to initially produce and sell methanol. The plant will subsequently produce cellulosic ethanol from methanol. Commercial production plant capacity is expected to be 10 million gallons (36 million litres) per year.
The access to Methanex Corporation’s worldwide distribution network coupled with our ability to produce methanol from non-recyclable waste represents a timely opportunity for Enerkem in the development of its commercial activities. Our proprietary technology platform allows for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals, including methanol, which we can sell as an end-product or convert into cellulosic ethanol.
—Vincent Chornet, President and CEO of Enerkem
There are waste materials that should not go into landfills simply because they contain carbon compounds which will result in the production of methane, and these can be used to make methanol, but biofuels are not the answer to any substantial part of the supply of fuel to automobiles or homes because calculations clearly show that there is not enough land area to supply even a few percent of the total consumption. In no case should biofuels be allowed to be imported into any European country from biofuel farms which have likely displaced forests. Methanol is a very good fuel for engines even with half the energy density of gasoline and all automobiles now made can be equipped to burn methanol for less than a hundred dollars if done for many at the factory. Methanol can be made from natural gas, and there are reports of small units even that do it. The vast coal beds of North America can also be used to produce methanol to reduce the cost of importing fuels. It has been commercially demonstrated that CO2 produced whilst producing refined or synthetic fuels can be used to increase fuel production in oil fields. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 18 September 2011 at 05:46 AM