Decarbonisation Technology May 2025 Issue

Syngas

Bio methanol process

Gasied MSW & waste biomass

Shipping fuel

eFining

Biomass & biobased processes

Honeywell UOP

Methanol

SAF

CO emitting industries CO direct air capture

eMERALD methanol

E-Olens

Via other upgrading processes

Gasoline

JM catalyst & technology areas Honeywell UOP catalyst & technology areas

Chemicals

Power Water

Renewables, solar, wind power & water

Electrolysis

Honeywell UOP

DME

Figure 4 Key areas for methanol off-takes

licence from JM and using JM catalyst focused on CO₂ utilisation. Since then, JM’s evolving technology has been selected in a number of e-methanol and biomass-based methanol projects of significant size across the world, totalling an announced capacity of 4,772 tpd of methanol production. Key projects are as follows: • Built and operational since 2021, the Haru Oni pilot plant, located in Patagonia, Chile, leverages high-capacity wind power to generate green hydrogen and utilises biogenic CO₂ to produce methanol (Johnson Matthey, 2021) . • HIF Global’s Paysandu eFuels facility in Uruguay, one of the world’s largest planned e-methanol plants at 700 tpa, has chosen JM’s CO₂-to-methanol technology. The plant is expected to start construction in 2025 (Johnson Matthey, 2024) . • La Robla NE in Spain, one of Europe’s largest planned e-methanol plants at 140 ktpa, has also selected JM’s CO₂-to-methanol technology, with operations expected by 2027 (Johnson Matthey, 2025) . • ET Fuels’ e-methanol Texas plant, with a capacity of 120 ktpa, has selected JM’s CO₂- to-methanol technology and is planned for completion by 2029 (Johnson Matthey, 2024). Methanol off-takes There are three key areas for methanol off-takes, as shown in Figure 4: u Methanol as a fuel for shipping. v Methanol to produce olefins for plastics and petrochemicals.

w Methanol to SAF, which is seen as an attractive route for customers.

Methanol-to-jet technology In the UOP eFining process, methanol is converted to light olefins, which are then chained together in an oligomerisation process, ‘building up’ molecules of a desired length. The stepwise nature of the oligomerisation reaction means that the eFining process is inherently highly selective to isoparaffinic SAF- range molecules, with very few light or heavy byproducts. The first step in the Honeywell UOP eFining process is built on its commercially demonstrated methanol-to-olefin technology, UOP/Hydro MTO process (MTO), which optimises methanol feed for maximum olefin yield and cost-effective, uninterrupted operations. The technology offers the most efficient utilisation of methanol feed, aiming for the lowest production costs and prioritising reliable operations. The methanol produced by JM’s eMERALD technology is a versatile intermediate between CO₂ and SAF. As methanol is already produced and traded globally, the eMERALD process yields a proven sellable, marketable, and easily transportable liquid in today’s marketplace, which helps mitigate project risk through staged investment and phased start-up. Methanol as a feed to downstream SAF production also enables a hub-and-spoke approach to feed consolidation, where