Renewable Methanol Synthesis

Abstract

Renewable methanol production is an emerging technology that bridges the gap in the shift from fossil fuel to renewable energy. Two thirds of the global emission of CO2 stems from humanity's increasing energy need from fossil fuels. Renewable energy, mainly from solar and wind energy, suffers from supply intermittency, which current grid infrastructures cannot accommodate. Excess renewable energy can be harnessed to power the electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, which can be used in the catalytic hydrogenation of waste CO2 to produce renewable methanol. This review considers methanol production in the current context, regionally for Europe, which is dominated by Germany, and globally by China. Appropriate carbon‐based feedstock for renewable methanol production is considered, as well as state‐of‐the‐art renewable hydrogen production technologies. The economics of renewable methanol production necessitates the consideration of regionally relevant methanol derivatives. The thermodynamics, kinetics, catalytic reaction mechanism, operating conditions and reactor design are reviewed in the context of renewable methanol production to reveal the most up to date understanding.

Production of Gasolines and Monocyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: From Fossil Raw Materials to Green Processes

“…Different process pathways can be used to produce renewable gasolines and aromatics through methanol [104]. In fact, biomethanol can be produced by renewable sources in different ways [105,106]. In early times, and up to the 1970s, significant amounts of methanol (which in early times was called "wood alcohol") was produced by destructive hardwood distillation [107,108].…”

Minimizing CO2 emissions with renewable energy: a comparative study of emerging technologies in the steel industry

“…Instead of burning, CO and H2 in the steel mill gases could replace fossil raw materials, supporting a cleaner route 15 to chemicals through industrial symbiosis 3,16,17 . The integration of CO2-emitting and CO2-consuming industries, e.g., the steel and the methanol industry, has been proposed to reduce CO2 emissions 18 . To tackle the intermittency of renewable electricity, methanol could also be used to chemically store excess renewable electricity 18,19 .…”

“…The integration of CO2-emitting and CO2-consuming industries, e.g., the steel and the methanol industry, has been proposed to reduce CO2 emissions 18 . To tackle the intermittency of renewable electricity, methanol could also be used to chemically store excess renewable electricity 18,19 . Methanol is one of largestscale base chemicals 20,21 and has the highest carbon fuel exergy content per mol of carbon among CO2-derived liquid fuels 22 .…”

“…They are mainly developed for Enhanced Oil Recovery. In Europe, the capacity is less than 5 Mt CO2 per year 18,28 . The global potential for CO2 storage is however large, with estimated storage capacities of 3500 Gt CO2 or more 28,29 .…”

Enhanced performance of microbial electrolysis cells using microstructured electrodes

“…Desalination of seawater or obtaining different kinds of substantial resources are upcoming topics. Microbial electrolysis cells display a multi-faceted platform technology but actually most systems have not yet passed the scientific laboratory stage [13][14][15][16]. Challenges in upscaling are related to the efficiency of the bio-electrochemical cells.…”