HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Carbon Recycling International (CRI) is an Icelandic limited liability company which has developed a technology designed to produce renewable
methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is ...
from
carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is t ...
and
hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-to ...
, using
water electrolysis Electrolysis of water, also known as electrochemical water splitting, is the process of using electricity to decompose water into oxygen and hydrogen gas by electrolysis. Hydrogen gas released in this way can be used as hydrogen fuel, or remi ...
or, alternatively, hydrogen captured from industrial waste gases. The technology is trademarked by CRI as Emissions-to-Liquids (ETL) and the renewable methanol produced by CRI is trademarked as Vulcanol. In 2011 CRI became the first company to produce and sell liquid renewable transport fuel produced using only carbon dioxide, water and electricity from renewable sources.


History

CRI, incorporated in 2006, was founded by Fridrik Jonsson, Art Shulenberger, Oddur Ingolfsson, and KC Tran. In addition to Icelandic individuals and funds, investors include Canadian multinational methanol supplier and distributor
Methanex Methanex Corporation is a Canadian company that supplies, distributes and markets methanol worldwide. Methanex is the world’s largest producer and supplier of methanol to major international markets in North and South America, Europe, and Asia ...
and Chinese multinational automotive manufacturing company
Geely Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd (ZGH), commonly known as Geely (吉利 "auspicious"), is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur ...
. CRI's first commercial scale plant, the George Olah Plant (named after
George Andrew Olah George Andrew Olah (born Oláh András György; May 22, 1927 – March 8, 2017) was a Hungarian-American chemist. His research involved the generation and reactivity of carbocations via superacids. For this research, Olah was awarded a Nobel Pri ...
, the 1994 Nobel Prize Laureate in chemistry), was completed in 2011. CRI is currently working on several new projects in parallel, including in an EU
Horizon 2020 The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europea ...
research programme funded MefCO2 consortium to build a renewable methanol demonstration plant in Germany and in the FreSME consortium to build a renewable methanol demonstration plant in Sweden.


Renewable methanol

Renewable methanol can be used as a fuel, chemical feedstock (including various types of fuels) or blended with gasoline. Fuels which are produced partially or fully from methanol include
biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat ( tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oi ...
,
dimethyl ether Dimethyl ether (DME; also known as methoxymethane) is the organic compound with the formula CH3OCH3, (sometimes ambiguously simplified to C2H6O as it is an isomer of ethanol). The simplest ether, it is a colorless gas that is a useful precursor ...
or oxymethylene ether, as well as
synthetic gasoline Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel, or sometimes gaseous fuel, obtained from syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, in which the syngas was derived from gasification of solid feedstocks such as coal or biomass or by reformi ...
from the Mobil methanol-to-gasoline (MTG) process. Gasoline blends range from 3% methanol, which is allowed in European standard gasoline, to 56% methanol, a blend for flexible fuel vehicles which has the same energy density and oxygen content as E85 gasoline. CRI has run fleet tests with a range of lower blends and higher blend options in cars from different manufacturers, including 100% methanol in special flexible fuel vehicles manufactured by Geely. Renewable methanol is compatible with
internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal co ...
s as well as
methanol fuel cell Direct-methanol fuel cells or DMFCs are a subcategory of proton-exchange fuel cells in which methanol is used as the fuel. Their main advantage is the ease of transport of methanol, an energy-dense yet reasonably stable liquid at all environmental ...
s. Internal combustion engines that operate on 100% methanol are in production both for light vehicles, trucks and ships. Methanol fuel cells of varying energy density are available from multiple manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia.


Production

Production of renewable methanol does not depend on agricultural resources, as hydrogen and carbon dioxide are the primary inputs. CRI's emissions-to-liquids production process is based on three main modules, carbon dioxide purification, hydrogen generation and the methanol synthesis and purification system. The catalytic conversion process from hydrogen and carbon dioxide occurs in one step, while production of methanol from fossil fuels, such as natural gas or coal, involves several reforming steps to obtain
syngas Syngas, or synthesis gas, is a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, in various ratios. The gas often contains some carbon dioxide and methane. It is principly used for producing ammonia or methanol. Syngas is combustible and can be used as ...
followed by the catalytic step. Unlike some other power-to-fuel technologies, which use carbon dioxide and hydrogen as inputs, CRI's emissions-to-liquids process also does not require the carbon dioxide to be 'shifted' prior to the synthesis step.


Plants

The George Olah Plant, or the GO Plant, has a name-plate capacity of 5 million liters per year. It is located close to the Blue Lagoon spa facility and HS Orka's
Svartsengi power station The Svartsengi Power Station (''Svartsengi'' (); "black meadow" in Icelandic) is a geothermal power plant, which is located in the Svartsengi geothermal field, about four km north of Grindavík, approximately 20 km SE of Keflavík Internat ...
. The plant can capture and utilize around 10% of the carbon dioxide emitted by the Svartsengi power station.


Legislation

The
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
's
renewable energy directive The Renewable Energy Directive 20182018/2001 is a Directive in EU law that requires 32 percent of the energy consumed within the European Union to be renewable by 2030. This target is pooled among the member states. Background Before the 2 ...
recognizes renewable methanol as a renewable transport fuel from non-biological sources, which means that it can be used as an advanced renewable transport fuel under the EU's renewable fuel blending mandates.


Impact

Carbon dioxide is a major cause of
global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
. By removing carbon dioxide from industrial emissions and increasing the availability of energy derived from electricity or low-carbon intensity hydrogen, CRI's process helps to mitigate
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
. Renewable methanol burns cleanly as a fuel and substituting renewable methanol for gasoline and diesel fuels reduces urban emissions of
particulate matter Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The te ...
, sulphur oxides ( SOx) and nitrous oxides ( NOx). CRI's process can also be used to store energy in the form of methanol, especially in cases where the energy source is intermittent. For example,
wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ...
and
solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovolta ...
are intermittently available. By storing energy from these sources in liquid chemical form, the generation of electricity and utilization of electricity does not have to be linked in time and space.. Methanol is also a good
energy carrier An energy carrier is a substance (fuel) or sometimes a phenomenon (energy system) that contains energy that can be later converted to other forms such as mechanical work or heat or to operate chemical or physical processes. Such carriers includ ...
. As a liquid fuel it is easier and cheaper to store and transport than gaseous fuels such as hydrogen or methane.


Future projects

CRI plans to implement standardized CSPs (commercial scale plants), each with a capacity of at least 50,000 tons of methanol production per year.


See also

*
Methanol economy The methanol economy is a suggested future economy in which methanol and dimethyl ether replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, ground transportation fuel, and raw material for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products. It offers an alter ...


References


External links


Methanol Institute
{{Authority control Energy companies of Iceland Renewable energy in Iceland Renewable fuels Companies based in Reykjavík Renewable resource companies established in 2006 2006 establishments in Iceland