Proman has finalized an agreement to build two additional 49,900 dwt methanol dual-fuel MR tankers, bringing its total investment in methanol-powered vessels to six newbuildings. Proman will be the sole owner of the Provident and Progressive, alongside the Promise which is due to be delivered in Q3 2022. These vessels... Read more →

A study by researchers at RWTH Aachen University in Germany has found that synthetic dimethoxymethane (DMM) is not only a promising fuel or blend component because of its outstanding combustion characteristics, but that it could be very attractive from a production point of view as well. In an open-access paper... Read more →

Project AIR—an industrial concept to produce methanol from a large variety of recovered end-of-life streams and hydrogen from electrolysis—has been awarded approximately €30 million by the Swedish Energy Agency, and is now applying for EU Innovation Fund to realize the project. The project is being carried out by the Swedish... Read more →

The Port of Antwerp is converting a tug to methanol propulsion. The ‘methatug’ is part of the European Union-funded Fastwater project, which aims to demonstrate the feasibility of methanol as a sustainable marine fuel. The European Commission approved the project this week. Rhine-based inland navigation craft must comply with the... Read more →

TotalEnergies currently produces around 700,000 tons of methanol per year based on fossil raw materials at the TotalEnergies Raffinerie Mitteldeutschland in Leuna, making it the largest methanol producer in Europe. The company is moving ahead with the e-CO2Met project (earlier post), in which it, with partners Sunfire and Fraunhofer, aims... Read more →

Oberon Fuels, producer of clean-burning dimethyl ether (DME) transportation fuel, has begun production of the first renewable DME (rDME) in the United States, and the only current commercial production of this in the world. Because rDME’s properties allow it to store and transport renewable hydrogen cost-effectively, this milestone unlocks Oberon’s... Read more →

Liquid Wind has closed its Series A funding round, securing €4M in equity investment. Investors in the eMethanol facility developer include Alfa Laval, Carbon Clean, Falkor, Haldor Topsoe, Siemens Energy and Uniper. The investment will be used for the development of Liquid Wind’s first eMethanol production facility, and support plans... Read more →

The Liquid Wind consortium in Sweden has selected Worley to provide basic engineering services for one of the world’s first commercial-scale eMethanol facilities. Worley is a leading supplier of engineering, procurement and construction services and will support designing a facility concept that can be efficiently replicated to establish 500 eMethanol... Read more →

Topsoe and the leading Russian chemical company Shchekinoazot have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to synchronize vison and plans on developing blue and green methanol, ammonia, and hydrogen production and reducing CO2 emissions. The two companies agreed to inform each other on latest technological developments and jointly explore opportunities... Read more →

Carbon Clean, a developer of low-cost carbon capture technology, has entered into an agreement with power-to-fuels developer Liquid Wind. Carbon Clean’s technology will capture biogenic carbon dioxide emissions from a local industrial site. Within the Liquid Wind facility, the CO2 will then be combined with renewable hydrogen to form the... Read more →

An innovative fuel cell system based on high-temperature proton exchange membrane (HTPEM) technology from Blue World Technologies (earlier post) is being constructed for testing at the Alfa Laval Test & Training Center in Aalborg, Denmark. The test installation will explore the technology’s potential as a source of marine auxiliary power.... Read more →

Haldor Topsoe and Nel ASA have entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the intent to offer customers complete solution for green ammonia and methanol produced with renewable electricity. The solutions will be based on Nel’s alkaline and PEM electrolysis technologies in combination with proven ammonia and methanol technologies from... Read more →

Nauticol Energy and Enhance Energy have entered into an agreement to work collaboratively for the capture and sequestration of up to one million tonnes of CO2 each year from Nauticol’s planned $2-billion Blue Methanol facility to be built near Grande Prairie, Alberta. Utilizing Western Canadian natural gas, combined with carbon... Read more →

Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with OCI N.V. (OCI) and MAN Energy Solutions (MAN) to develop methanol and ammonia as marine fuels to support industry-wide decarbonization and environmental preservation efforts. The partnership involves using select conventional vessels from EPS’ existing tanker fleet that use MAN... Read more →

Fast-tracked by advances in technology and increasing customer demand for sustainable supply chains, A.P. Moller - Maersk is accelerating its efforts to decarbonize marine operations with the launch of the first carbon-neutral feeder vessel in 2023—seven years ahead of the initial 2030 ambition. All future Maersk owned newbuildings will have... Read more →

RINA, a global classification society, and the Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI) have signed a Joint Development Project Agreement to develop a ship design capable of being fueled by either ammonia or methanol. Within the Agreement, SDARI will focus on the ship concept development and design while... Read more →

Blue World Technologies and Karma Automotive will collaborate to explore the viability of a methanol fuel cell system (earlier post) to provide primary propulsion power for a variety of future passenger and light commercial vehicles. Blue World Technology’s methanol fuel cell system will be integrated with Karma Automotive’s electric vehicle... Read more →

Blue World Technologies, developer and manufacturer of methanol fuel cells, is acquiring Danish Power Systems, a 25-year-old High Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (HTPEM) membrane electrode assembly (MEA) research and development company. The transaction follows Blue World’s August 2019 purchase of 15% of the shares in Danish Power Systems. (Earlier post.)... Read more →

A team led by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab) Molecular Foundry has designed and synthesized ultrasmall nickel nanoclusters (∼1.5 nm) deposited on defect-rich BN nanosheet (Ni/BN) catalysts with excellent methanol dehydrogenation activity and selectivity. In an open-access paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of... Read more →

Fuel cells based on methanol oxidation have potential for the motor and technical industries. A group of researchers from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU), Austria, Turkey, Switzerland, and the UK has developed a new metallic glass that is 85% more efficient in oxidizing methanol than its platinum-based analogs. Moreover, because... Read more →

Methanol fuel cell developer and manufacturer Blue World Technologies (earlier post) has closed an investment round with an investment of more than €6 million. The company has also signed a leasing agreement on a new production building at the Port of Aalborg. Blue World Technologies’ methanol fuel cells are combined... Read more →

Enerkem, with a group of strategic partners including major investor Shell, along with Suncor and Proman, and Hydro-Québec supplying green hydrogen and oxygen, and with the support of the Québec and Canadian governments, is proposing the construction of a biofuel plant in Varennes, in the Greater Montréal area. Varennes Carbon... Read more →

Porsche, Siemens Energy and partners are developing and implementing a pilot project—the “Haru Oni” project—in Chile that is expected to yield the world’s first integrated, commercial, industrial-scale plant for making synthetic climate-neutral fuels (eFuels). Electrolyzers will use wind power to produce green hydrogen. In a second step, plans call for... Read more →

Element 1 Corp (e1) has licensed its proprietary methanol-based M-Series hydrogen generator technology to RIX Industries (RIX). The compact M-Series was designed to displace stored compressed hydrogen to support fuel cell propulsion applications. As the M-Series produces low-pressure hydrogen which is consumed by the fuel cell, almost no hydrogen is... Read more →

Methanol fuel cell developer and manufacturer Blue World Technologies (earlier post) is starting limited production—the first step in commercializing its methanol fuel cell technology. Blue World Technologies’ complete system includes a methanol reformer for fuel conversion, DC/DC for power conversion and fuel cell stack for power production. The fuel cell... Read more →

A current research project is working to establish the technical basis for standardization of methanol fuels in Europe. The project involves a consortium of universities, research institutes, industrial companies and small and medium-sized enterprises as partners. The partners in the “Methanol Standard” project aim to pave way for the certification... Read more →

Oregon-based Element 1 Corp (e1), a developer of hydrogen generation technology, in collaboration with China-based Co-Win Hydrogen Power Company Limited (CO-WIN), announced that e1’s proprietary methanol-based M-Series hydrogen generator has been incorporated onto a medium-duty fuel cell truck produced by one of the world’s largest truck manufacturing companies. Extended road... Read more →

Inspired by naturally occurring processes, a team of Boston College chemists used a multi-catalyst system to convert carbon dioxide to methanol at the lowest temperatures reported with high activity and selectivity. A paper on the work is published in the journal Chem. Methanol is a promising renewable fuel that can... Read more →

In Germany, BSE Engineering and the Institute for Renewable Energy Systems at Stralsund University of Applied Sciences (IRES) have demonstrated the conversion of wind power into renewable methanol. Operation of this technology under dynamic conditions will be confirmed during a year-long test. The team uses green electricity to split water... Read more →

Air Products, a leader in industrial gases and megaproject development, and Haldor Topsoe, a leader in high-performance catalysts and proprietary technology for the chemical and refining industries, have signed a global Alliance Agreement. The two companies will collaborate, using their extensive market network outreach for developing potential projects and the... Read more →

The Swedish start-up Liquid Wind recently launched a second crowdfunding campaign and has already raised 1,000,000 SEK (US$102,000). Liquid Wind is developing its first commercial-scale eMethanol facility in Sweden and plans to establish 6 facilities by 2030 before expanding internationally. The project is supported by the expertise and technology of... Read more →

Lloyd’s Register (LR) and the University Maritime Advisory Services (UMAS) have published their latest assessment of the current and future fuels available to shipping to help define the optimum solutions as the maritime industry seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Building on research already undertaken by LR and UMAS into... Read more →

The Methanol Institute (MI) released two new reports on the use of methanol as a safe, efficient and clean alternative fuel for cars, trucks and buses. SGS Inspire prepared a report for the Methanol Institute titled “Methanol: Properties and Uses,” providing an explanation of the main physical and chemical properties... Read more →

By investing in R&D and performing fundamental studies of the different carrier systems and their properties, Topsoe has developed a new and more robust carrier system. This system forms the basis for the new TITAN series of steam reforming catalysts. The series, launched earlier this month at the Nitrogen+Syngas Conference... Read more →

SAL Heavy Lift, a member of the Harren & Partner Group and one of the world’s leading carriers specialized in sea transport of heavy lift and project cargo, is the first shipping company in the world to adopt a new hydrogen/methanol technology to its fleet. With significant emission reductions in... Read more →

Blue World Technologies has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China-based new energy vehicle manufacturer AIWAYS, with the purpose of supplying the market with vehicles powered by methanol fuel cells for fast refueling and long range. During the Chinese International Import Expo 2019 (CIIE 2019) in Shanghai, Blue World Technologies... Read more →

Waterfront Shipping Company Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Methanex Corporation, and Marinvest/Skagerack Invest (Marinvest) announced the delivery of two second-generation methanol fueled vessels—M/T Mari Couva and M/T Mari Kokako—to the Waterfront Shipping fleet. The 49,000 dwt vessels are built with the second generation of MAN B&W ME-LGIM two stroke... Read more →

Blue World Technologies has acquired 15% of Danish Power Systems, a developer and manufacturer of membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for high-temperature PEM fuel cells. Blue World Technologies will use the Danish Power Systems technology in their methanol fuel cell systems. The complete Blue World system includes the fuel cell stack,... Read more →

Scientists at ETH Zürich and oil and gas company Total have developed a new catalyst that efficiently converts CO2 and hydrogen directly into methanol. Offering realistic market potential, the technology paves the way for the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals. ETH Zürich and Total have jointly filed a patent... Read more →

Haldor Topsoe will build a 10 kg/hour methanol plant to demonstrate the company’s electrified and extremely compact eSMR Methanol technology for cost-competitive production of sustainable methanol from biogas. The eSMR Methanol technology exploits the full carbon potential of biogas by utilizing the 40% CO2 content which is routinely separated and... Read more →

BASF researchers have developed a process to produce methanol without any greenhouse gas emissions. If it can be successfully implemented at an industrial scale, the entire production process – from syngas production to pure methanol – will no longer release any carbon dioxide emissions. Typically, methanol is made from syngas,... Read more →

Methanotrophic bacteria remove methane from the environment and convert it into methanol. An interdisciplinary team at Northwestern University has found that the enzyme responsible for the methane-methanol conversion catalyzes this reaction at a site that contains just one copper ion. The study is published in the journal Science. Bacteria that... Read more →

Within the scope of an agreement signed in November 2017 (earlier post), Eni and FCA have developed “A20”, a new fuel with a low level of emissions due to its 15% methanol and 5% bio-ethanol alcohol content. By harnessing its low carbon content, bio component and high octane number (RON... Read more →

Carbon Recycling International has been awarded a €1.8-million (US$2.0-million) grant under the EU Horizon 2020 Research Programme to increase the scale of its CO2-to-methanol technology, marketed under the trademark Emissions-to-Liquids (ETL). The grant will allow CRI to accelerate efforts to commercialize large scale production plants, expanding the market for ETL... Read more →

Shell will join a consortium comprising Air Liquide, Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals), Enerkem and the Port of Rotterdam in an effort to build Europe’s first advanced waste-to-chemicals facility in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Shell will become an equal equity partner in the proposed commercial-scale waste-to-chemicals (W2C) project, which will be... Read more →

BASF has introduced a product for the production of methanol on the basis of renewable raw materials according to the biomass balance approach. The product name is EU-REDcert-methanol. The company replaces fossil raw materials with second-generation renewable raw materials and uses waste as well as residual materials. As a result,... Read more →

Highly fuel-efficient new engine designs could significantly reduce the environmental impact of combustion-engined vehicles, especially if the engines run on renewable non-petroleum-based fuels. Ensuring these unconventional fuels are compatible with next-generation engines was the aim of a new computational study on fuel ignition behavior at KAUST. A paper on their... Read more →

Researchers from Soochow University in China and the University of Toronto have developed a new photocatalyst for the hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol with 50% selectivity under simulated solar irradiation. A paper on their work appears in the journal Joule. The solar methanol production of the defect-laden indium oxide, In2O3-x(OH)y,... Read more →

For the last 18 months, a fleet of 6 methanol-fueled versions of the Geely Emgrand 7 cars have been in Iceland. Geely is a shareholder ($45.5-million investment in 2015) in Carbon Recycling International (CRI), an Icelandic company which produces renewable methanol using recycled CO2 emissions sourced from a local thermal... Read more →

Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, Tufts University and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have shown that mononuclear rhodium species, anchored on a zeolite or titanium dioxide support suspended in aqueous solution, can catalyze the direct conversion of methane to methanol and acetic acid using oxygen and carbon monoxide under mild conditions.... Read more →