Gas 2023 Issue

Conclusion There is an emerging market for green methanol today, and the market expects the demand to increase further as vari- ous applications begin to develop. We see the marine and biofuels market developing at a healthy pace mainly due to the promising solution to reduce CO 2 emissions. The hard- to-abate industries such as steel, cement, and chemicals can also decarbonise by producing renewable methanol from CO 2 emissions captured at their facilities. Green methanol growth is not limited by the technology to produce it, but rather the barrier is the cost compared to the fossil counterpart, grey methanol. Global interest in accelerating carbon reductions with sustainable renewable solutions like green methanol needs political will, robust policies, and regulations apart from higher CO 2 price and/ or tax incentives. As per the Methanol Institute, renewable methanol projects around the globe are projected to pro- duce more than 8 million t/y of green methanol by 2027. With ongoing advancements in technology, the capacity of individual renewable plants is expected to be 50,000- 250,000 t/y or more over the next five years. The challenge for the energy industry will be to assess the available technologies, understand the market available to them, and prepare the business case for further engi- neering and investment. Given the optionality available, a thorough technical and economics analysis, as well as a risk assessment, can help energy firms determine if low-carbon

methanol is a good choice to include in their decarbonisa- tion strategy and how to efficiently incorporate low-carbon methanol into their investment and operational portfolio. References 1 Methanol carbon footprint and certification Guidance, www.impca. eu/IMPCA/Technical/IMPCA-Documents 2 Selective CO 2 electroreduction to methanol via enhanced oxygen bonding, www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-35450-8 3 Photochemical methane partial oxidation to methanol assisted by H 2 O 2 , www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1010603017307785; How to make use of methanol in green catalytic hydrogen production?, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/nano.202000010; Methanol production via direct carbon dioxide hydrogenation using hydrogen from photocatalytic water splitting, www.sciencedirect.com/ science/article/abs/pii/S0959652618331482 4 Maersk is partnering with six companies to source at least 730,000 tpy of green methanol by the end of 2025, www.greencarcongress. com/2022/03/20220311-maersk.html 5 https://scitechdaily.com/the-least-costly-yet-scientists-unveil-a- new-carbon-capture-system/ Pattabhi Raman Narayanan is a chemical engineer with more than 40 years of global oil and downstream experience. He is experienced in building relationships with government and NGOs on GHG policy, and in developing novel footprint reduction opportunities for the oil and gas industry. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Alberta, has published articles in industry magazines, and holds three patents.

Gas 2023