Proposed US biomethanol plants target bunkering demand

Dutch renewable fuel producer Perpetual Next plans to build three biomethanol plants in the southern US.

IMAGE: Blueprint of biomass gasification and biomethanol production. Perpetual Next

Biomethanol is produced from sustainable biomass feedstock. Organic biomass is converted into synthesis gas, mainly composed of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and CO2, through a process known as gasification.

The company has developed its own technology that uses a carbonisation process as a “pre-treatment step” to produce biocarbon from the biomass.

Biocarbon is then used as a feedstock in conventional gasification. This process allows it to use a “wide range” of biomass feedstocks for biomethanol production, it explained.

Construction of the US plants is expected to start this year. Perpetual Next has not disclosed the operational timeline or production capacity of the project, but confirmed that part of the output will be allocated for bunkering.

“With the introduction of new governmental policies, such as Europe’s FuelEU program, and voluntary industry initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions, global demand for biomethanol is anticipated to grow substantially by 2050,” the company said.

Perpetual Next is also developing two separate biomethanol plants in Baltania in Estonia and Delfzijl in the Netherlands, each with a planned capacity of 220,000 mt/year.

By Konica Bhatt

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