Syngas… it sounds like something straight out of a science fiction novel. What it is rings just as memorable, because it has something to do with a process that is being used by an up-and-coming California-based company to make what’s called green methanol. This is important because green methanol is falling into favor to power the giant ships that haul around and feed the world’s insatiable demand for goods day in and day out.
This company is WasteFuel, and BP just tossed about $10 million their way. That means you can expect to hear their names again, probably soon, as their entire goal now is to scale up and bring their green methanol producing technology to market. It’s perfect timing too, because the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which helps with international shipping regulations, has set a reduction goal for emissions within the shipping industry of 50% by 2050 compared to 2008.
As of right now, in the shipping industry, we’re mostly powering our vessels with nasty fossil fuels. Green methanol, which is made from renewable sources, could help us correct that. Then, we can keep indulging, guilt-free, in work and hobbies that involve our beautiful oceans. Since about three quarters of global trade is facilitated by the sea, we have the opportunity to make an impact with green methanol. It’ll work in tandem with things like alternative propulsion and other new technologies.
Green methanol can burn in existing diesel engines, doesn’t produce harmful soot or particulate, and can even be made from sources like solar and wind. It’s unclear how prolific it will become, but we can look around and begin to see projects launching showcasing the new green shipping fuel. This not only means a cleaner shipping industry, it means we need to rip some things out and replace them… meaning we need supporting infrastructure.
Danish company Maersk has decided to help pioneer the way for us all, as they’ve been working on the maiden voyage of the world’s first methanol-enabled container vessel, called the Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller. This 2,100 TEU feeder vessel will be under the guidance of Maersk subsidiary Sealand. Most important, the carbon-neutral fuel making the trip possible comes from renewables and something else really cool.
This something else is a type of CO2 which occurs naturally as part of earth’s carbon cycle, called biogenic CO2. And you’ll never guess who’s helping cheer on missions like these… an industry we didn’t expect to mention in this article: fashion. In a move that should work quite favorably for the space, fashion is helping transform shipping… the industry wants to see her garments carried to the masses renewably. We’re excited to see this happening.
We’re glad primarily because fashion contributes a lot to emissions. While it’s not out of the single digits… let’s just say it’s taking up a noticeable chunk of the emissions pie chart. And guess who’s sitting right beside fashion on that pie chart… yup, shipping. So, this partnership makes a lot of sense. But, before we give fashion too much praise, we want to be the first to point out that we shouldn’t have to wait until consumers are screaming for changes to transform an industry.
That said, a win is a win. Brands that are setting ambitious emissions targets include ASOS, Patagonia, Nike, and hundreds more. Maybe one day we’ll 3D print most of what we need at home and collectively prefer to mend rather than consume fast fashion. Until then, we rely on shipping. Additionally, with recent surveys pointing to well over half of respondents saying they are willing to pay more for fashion built around green-conscious actions, we’re advocating for this partnership.
A little place in Illinois called Lena is helping with green methanol efforts in America. It’s here that a project between CapCO2 Solutions and Adkins Energy will test a technology for capturing CO2, combining it with hydrogen, and turning it into green methanol. The project, partially funded by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Carbon Management Program dollars, has an attractive proposition: do everything onsite rather than piping in CO2, which can be dangerous.
The logic is easy to follow… and we can think of it like a taco truck. A taco truck works because it’s self-contained, which speaks to simple risk reduction… you have less points at which things can go sour in a closed system. What CapCO2 wants to do is no different. If we were an owner, we’d drift off to sleep at night thinking about all the things along the supply chain we didn’t have to shell out money for. Come back next week for more from the green tech space.