Will Enerkem's Waste Gasification tech work in Spain after it failed to deliver in Canada? ♨️🗑️ Repsol wants to build a Waste-to-Methanol plant in Tarragona🇪🇸. The tech was used in Edmonton🇨🇦 for ~10y, but never came close to its expected production volumes. industrydecarbonization.com/news/is-ener...

Given Enerkem's poor performance in Edmonton, it is worth asking: why does Repsol think that the tech will work better in Spain? Is it worth additional money💶 from the EU🇪🇺 and indirectly Spanish🇪🇸 taxpayers? Unfortunately, neither Enerkem nor Repsol wanted to talk to me. More in my latest newsletter

While Enerkem's projects in CA failed, one in Spain moves ahead. Ecoplanta at Repsol's Tarragona complex🧪🏭 is probably Enerkem's last chance to succeed. Ecoplanta only came to pass after plans for the extension of an energy tax🏛️ in Spain were dropped after the party Junts declined to support it

Is Enerkem's Waste Gasification technology a Failure or a promising Climate Solution? Gasification of waste🗑️ and biomass🪵 could be an enormously helpful tool to make circular+renewable chemicals. Yet, the list of failed gasification projects is long.🔌💡 🧵 industrydecarbonization.com/news/is-ener...

Most existing CO2 storage is something called Enhanced Oil Recovery. Existing CCS usually uses easye CO2 sources, and gas-fired power plants are the opposite of that. A key determinant for the costs of CCS is the concentration of a CO2 source. Check my video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO72...

Sometimes, I feel we're talking about different worlds of CCS. One is the world of ideas that people may have about what CCS might look like. The other is how actual CCS projects look in the real world.

CCS does not look like you may think💨🏭 Carbon Capture and Storage is certainly one of the more controversial technologies to mitigate climate change. When I observe discussions about it, I am often frustrated. 🔌💡 🧵

Looking for new ways to make clean Hydrogen?🌱💧 Peregrine Hydrogen says they have a way that requires 1/2 the electricity by integrating it with another process. By doing so, they make a 2nd product & there is an industry that needs both: Phosphate mines⛏️⚒️🪨 industrydecarbonization.com/news/this-hy...

Is Biomethane a smarter path towards Carbon Removal?🌱🐂🏭 There's a lot of talk about Carbon Removal these days, most people associate it with Direct Air Capture💨. Yet, DAC is excessively expensive, and it is unclear whether that will ever change. 🔌💡 industrydecarbonization.com/news/you-wan... 🧵

If you find topics like this interesting, consider subscribing to my newsletter: industrydecarbonization.com/subscribe.html

The Tønder biogas plant by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners delivers CO2 for the Kasso E-Methanol plant by European Energy.

It's a form of BECCS (Bio Energy with CCS), but it is very different from "traditional BECCS" (aka: CCS on bioenergy power plants🪵🔥). While Biomethane with CCS is not exactly at the center of the CCS debate, companies like neustark, The Carbon Removers, Bigadan, BioCirc are working on it.

Biogas from Anaerobic Digestion also contains CO2, and it can be upgraded to Biomethane, also known as Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), by removing CO2. Biomethane upgraders are, in a sense, the renewable🌱 equivalent to fossil gas upgraders. They provide an easy source for biogenic🌿 CO2.

Apart from the fact that it's usually used for Enhanced Oil Recovery, the sources are, in most cases, fossil gas upgraders💨🏭 Fossil gas💨 usually contains CO2 that needs to be removed. Gas upgraders provide CO2 in high concentrations. Capturing it is cheap.

CCS is a controversial topic to begin with. That has a lot to do with the fact that many see it - often rightfully so - as a delay strategy by the fossil fuel🛢️ industry. While people have power plants or cement factories in mind, real-world CCS looks quite different.

I was recently asked where I would see useful applications of CCS. My answer was: Cement🧱🪨 and Biomethane🐄🌱🏭 Most won't be surprised that I said Cement. Yet, Biomethane is not what people usually have in mind. But bear with me, it makes a lot of sense.🔌💡 🧵 industrydecarbonization.com/news/you-wan...

ArcelorMittal may shutdown its flagship "Smart Carbon" project Steelanol in Belgium 🇧🇪⛓️🏭 What most news don't mention is that Steelanol has a "sister project" called Torero, a biocoal plant🌲🪨🏭 & it appears Torero is not working as expected. industrydecarbonization.com/news/uncerta... #steel #ccu

Landfills are bad due to their methane emissions. But properly managed landfilling of plastics can avoid most emissions. Should we landfill to permanently keep carbon out of the atmosphere? ⛰️ More in my latest newsletter, link above.

What should be called unrecyclable is not so clear. Chemical recycling may allow us to recycle plenty of "unrecyclable waste" - if it works. Big "if". 🧪

CCU? I kinda like CCU, but going from energy-rich waste to low-energy CO2 and back to something high-energy like Methanol does not strike me as the best idea. ↕️ Avoiding waste is good, recycling is much better than burning. But particularly plastic recycling has limits. ♻️

Waste incinerator operators will often claim that 1/2 of their CO2 doesn't count 🌿 or even that they have net-negative emissions 🌎. I disagree. Are waste incinerators a sector that needs CCS? I have looked at a number of projects, and there's a common theme: costs are higher than expected. 💰💰💰

We have to talk about burning trash🗑️🔥 Waste incinerators are an enormous source of CO2 🏭💨🌎. For example, in Germany, a country where waste-to-energy is common, their emissions are higher than those of cement 🔌💡 🧵 industrydecarbonization.com/news/just-st...

Have you heard that Porsche is producing E-Fuels in Chile & that those may provide a future for combustion engines?🚗⚡⛽ In 2022, Porsche, Siemens Energy, and Chilean HIF inaugurated the Haru Oni E-Fuels plant, promising fuels for cars, made from green electricity&CO2 from the air. How's it doing?🔌💡🧵

There's a strange discrepancy between HIF's PR that primarily talks about fuels for cars and actual plans and internal documents that look like they're primarily interested in producing Methanol.

A HIF lobbyist was previously directly responsible for Haru Oni's subsidies in Germany's Ministry of Economics.

Running cars on E-Fuels, made with CO2 from the air and green Hydrogen?🚗⛽🌿⚡ In 2022, Siemens Energy, Porsche & HIF inaugurated the Haru Oni pilot plant in Chile, which turns CO2 and Hydrogen into Methanol + small amounts of Gasoline. How's it going? 🔌💡 🧵 industrydecarbonization.com/news/whats-u...

Do you need Hydrogen to power a small ship🚢 covering a distance of 5 kilometers? No. It can easily be done with batteries🔋 Yet the MF Hydra in 🇳🇴 runs on LH2💧, transported🚚 more than 1,300km from🇩🇪 Where and how is that Hydrogen produced? Unclear. 🎥 www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhzN...

Hydrogen and E-Fuels⚡⛽ producers think Iceland's🇮🇸 power⚡ company Landsvirkjun may be violating European🇪🇺 trade rules. Iceland uses 100% renewable electricity from hydropower🌊 and geothermal🌋 energy. industrydecarbonization.com/news/iceland... 🔌💡 🧵

If you find stories like this interesting, you will find a subscribe button at the end of the text or here: industrydecarbonization.com/subscribe.html And if you like that text, please do me a favor: think of at least one other person that you think will find it interesting - and send them a link.

I also looked at some of these E-Fuels ⚡⛽ projects and was wondering where they will get their carbon from. Spoiler: there aren't many great options in Iceland🇮🇸

Iceland is part of EFTA🇪🇺, countries that are not part of the EU, but are closely aligned with it. E-Fuels organization VOR has filed a complaint to the EFTA Surveillance Authority, which now investigates whether Landsvirjun is violating trade rules.

Landsvirkjun does not have enough electricity⚡. Building new plants is delayed by slow permitting processes📝. Landsvirkjun has therefore set out priorities - one could say it has an "opinionated" approach to its customers. Are they even allowed to do that?

Imagine you want to produce E-Fuels⚡⛽ but the power company does not want to sell to you🔌💡 That appears to be what E-Fuels producers faced in Iceland🇮🇸. The country uses 100% renewable⚡. Yet, Iceland's Landsvirkjun does not want to sell to E-Fuels projects🧵 industrydecarbonization.com/news/iceland...

What happened to Linde's Hydrogen Electrolyzer in Leuna/Germany, & what mystery hydrogen powers a ferry in Norway? 🌱💧🚢🇳🇴 In the image, you can see a steam methane reformer. It turns fossil gas into hydrogen & a lot of CO2, which is how H2 is made today.🏭🔥🌏 industrydecarbonization.com/news/why-pow...

Here's my republished 2022 article about E-Methanol production for shipping fuels, with some minor corrections and an update section at the end: industrydecarbonization.com/archive/how-...

(I recently wrote an in-depth article about HIF and Haru Oni in German and have already received a request to translate it. I may do an English version for a future newsletter, particularly if more people ask me about it.)

In my 2022 article, I also wrote that HIF would use direct air capture at their Haru Oni plant in Chile. That was... wrong. They still operate no DAC plant, although they have made many announcements. Also, while HIF announced aggressive scale-up plans in 2022, none of that has progressed so far.

I had also mentioned Liquid Wind from Sweden, and, uh, that's been a bit of a rollercoaster. Liquid Wind sold their first project to Ørsted, which shelved it last year. But now, Liquid Wind has plans to re-start that project, just twice the size. I covered that extensively in a recent newsletter.

Since then, their second plant in China has also started operating, and they have plans for a third one. However, there have been no recent updates on plans for a plant in Norway.

Republishing old articles is a good opportunity to check what happened to some old announcements. When it comes to E-Methanol, the pioneers are Carbon Recycling International from Iceland. In 2022, I mentioned that the first plant they built in China (which isn't really "E"-Methanol) went online.

How did E-Methanol production progress in the past few years? ⚡🧪🧵 In 2022, I wrote an article about E-Methanol production methods for the shipping news page Fathom World, which is no longer online. Well, if you follow me, you know I write a lot about E-Methanol, and follow those projects closely.

Imagine you're in Switzerland, and you want to get rid of your CO2 emissions. How about. . . transporting them 3,000 kilometers to Iceland for geological storage? In 2023, I interviewed Marco Mazzotti, a scientist, and one of the most prestigious ones when it comes to CCS. 🔌💡 🏭🇨🇭🚢🇮🇸 🧵

According to recent media reports, the company has recently signed agreements with some shipping companies. You can find the article with updates here: industrydecarbonization.com/archive/how-...

(You may've heard me wondering before why gasification plants appear to fail so often, except in Japan. ) That project has been delayed as well (though I hadn't mentioned any timeline), but LowLands Methanol still wants to build it.

The company plans a biomass-gasification-to-methanol facility near Rotterdam. What I found quite interesting is that Bakker told me they plan to use gasification technology that is already successfully used in Japan.

The company has been renamed to Green2x and appears to have changed its target product from biomethanol to biomethane. According to their web page, they expect the construction of a pilot plant in 2025. I also had interviewed Gijs Bakker from LowLands Methanol B. V. for that old article.

I also wrote that Vordinborg Biofuels from Denmark plans to make biomethanol from biomethane. Likewise, my old article sounded like that was already being built, which it wasn't. Vordinborg Biofuels had announced that it will start producing in 2024. That didn't happen.

Back then, I mentioned Enerkem's waste-gasification-to-methanol project in Spain, and I mistakenly made it sound like it was already under construction. That wasn't true, but the project got an investment decision earlier this year. But Enerkem also had some problems with other projects lately.

I will republish them one by one with minor corrections and updates. In 2022, I wrote an article about methanol as a shipping fuel and its production from bio- and waste inputs.

It's an unfortunate reality that many announced cleantech projects never get built — or much later than expected. I am currently checking a few articles I wrote in 2022+23 for Fathom World, a shipping news site that is no longer online. I want to make sure those old articles stay accessible.🔌💡 🏭🌿🏗️⏳🧵