Germany – At the Leuna Chemical Park in Germany, the first pilot plant for the use of new technology to produce green methanol has gone online.
A research team from the Technical University of Berlin, DBI – Gastechnologisches Institut, Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES, Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT, and start-up C1 Green Chemicals realized the pilot installation.
New method
The pilot installation’s goal is to create an entirely new method of producing green methanol. Syngas is converted to green methanol (CO/H2). Low temperature and pressure methanol production is made possible by C1 Green Chemicals’ inventive technology. It makes use of a homogenous manganese catalyst that C1 and the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis created.
The German Ministry of Transport provides a 10.4 million euro subsidy for the project. Green methanol is viewed as a significant fossil fuel substitute for aviation and maritime applications. On the same spot where the green methanol pilot plant currently sits, BASF constructed the first methanol factory in history exactly a century ago.
