Molecules
Methanol CH₃OH
A liquid at ambient conditions, with an established chemical market and a shipping industry that can handle it today. Its constraint is where the carbon comes from.
The liquid that needs no new handling
What it is
Methanol is the simplest alcohol, liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, and a long-established bulk chemical. Because it is a liquid that existing tanks, pumps and vessels can handle with modest modification, it avoids most of the storage and handling problems that hydrogen and ammonia present — which is why it has become a leading candidate for shipping fuel.
How it is produced
e-methanol from hydrogen and CO2
Electrolytic hydrogen combined with captured CO2 over a catalyst. The technology is commercially available; the difficulty is securing a CO2 stream of the right purity, scale and carbon accounting status.
Bio-methanol
From biomass gasification or from biogenic CO2. Attractive because the carbon is biogenic, and constrained by sustainable feedstock availability.
Conventional methanol
Overwhelmingly produced from natural gas or coal, and the source of essentially all methanol traded today.
Conversion
Methanol is a platform chemical as much as a fuel: it converts into olefins, formaldehyde, acetic acid, dimethyl ether and gasoline-range hydrocarbons. It can also be reformed back to hydrogen, though as with ammonia cracking this is usually the least attractive use of it.
Storage
Liquid at ambient temperature and pressure, in conventional tanks. It is toxic and miscible with water, which drives containment and spill-response requirements, but it needs no cryogenics and no high-pressure containment.
Transport
Moved in conventional chemical tankers, barges, rail, road and pipelines, and handled at existing chemical terminals. Methanol is already one of the most widely traded bulk chemicals, so transport is a solved problem rather than a project risk.
Infrastructure
Synthesis plant, a CO2 source and its capture and conditioning, hydrogen supply, conventional liquid storage and terminal handling. Bunkering for marine use requires procedures and permits rather than fundamentally new infrastructure.
Economics
Cost is driven by hydrogen and by CO2. The CO2 input is the distinctive commercial variable: its price, purity, biogenic or fossil origin, and accounting treatment can decide whether a project is viable and whether its output qualifies in the destination market. Against that, methanol's handling advantage lowers downstream cost relative to hydrogen and ammonia.
Applications
- Marine fuel — with engines commercially available and in service
- Chemical feedstock for olefins, formaldehyde, acetic acid and derivatives
- Gasoline blending and conversion to hydrocarbon fuels
- Fuel cells and small-scale power in specific applications
- Hydrogen carrier where reforming at destination is acceptable
Commercial challenges
- Securing CO2 at the right scale, purity, price and accounting status
- Biogenic CO2 is limited in supply and increasingly contested
- Fossil-derived CO2 raises questions about long-term carbon accounting
- Lower energy density than conventional marine fuels, requiring more tank volume
- Toxicity and water miscibility drive containment requirements
Questions
What is the difference between green methanol, e-methanol and bio-methanol?
e-methanol is made from electrolytic hydrogen and captured CO2. Bio-methanol is made from biomass or biogenic CO2. 'Green methanol' is a looser umbrella term covering both, and because it is imprecise, certification schemes and serious offtake contracts specify the pathway and the carbon intensity rather than the label.
Why is CO2 sourcing the hard part?
Because a methanol project needs a large, steady, reasonably pure CO2 stream, and the carbon's origin determines whether the product qualifies as low-carbon in the destination market. Biogenic sources are limited and contested; fossil point sources are more available but raise accounting questions that buyers and regulators are still resolving.
Why is methanol attractive for shipping?
Because it is a liquid at ambient conditions. Existing tanks, pumps and terminals handle it with modest modification, dual-fuel engines are commercially available and already operating, and bunkering is a procedural rather than an infrastructural problem.
Where methanol matters
How we can help
Techno-Economic Analysis
Levelised cost modelling with the assumptions exposed and the sensitivities tested.
Read more →Offtake & Buyer Discovery
Finding and qualifying the buyers a production project needs to be financeable.
Read more →Technology Assessment
Independent, criteria-driven comparison of the technologies competing for your project.
Read more →Working with methanol?
Whether you produce it, buy it, build for it or are deciding whether it fits your region, the starting point is the same conversation.