The Week in Alternative Fuels

Here are some key developments in alternative bunker fuels from the past week.

PHOTO: Topsoe's proprietary ammonia technology installed in Perdaman's ammonia plant. Topsoe

Fuels with low- and zero-emission potential like methanol and ammonia have drawn a lot of attention lately.

This week, Mitsui O.S.K Lines' (MOL) dual-fuel methanol carrier, Cajun Sun, completed a voyage across the Atlantic powered by a blend of bio-methanol and natural gas-based methanol. The tanker successfully demonstrated that bio-methanol blends can power long-distance voyages, giving methanol an edge over ammonia - at least in the short-term.

A Dublin-based startup called ETFuels announced plans to produce 300,000 mt/year of e-methanol for bunkering in the near future. ETFuels intends to capture 450,000 mt/year of carbon dioxide (CO2) from CEMEX's Alicante cement plant in Spain to produce clean methanol.

Danish investment firm Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has invested in both e-methanol and blue ammonia production to meet expected growth in demand for both fuels.

CIP purchased Anaergia's Envo Biogas plant, which will produce biogenic CO2 by processing about 900,000 mt of organic waste. CIP's partner European Energy will use this CO2 to produce e-methanol to fuel Maersk's upcoming container ships.

CIP has also teamed up with Topsoe on its US Gulf Coast blue ammonia plant. Topsoe will provide its proprietary steam-reforming technology to produce blue ammonia at the plant. The facility will have two production phases, each with an output capacity of 4,000 mt/day and a total of nearly 3 million mt/year.

Also in the spotlight this week, the world's largest ammonia producer, CF Industries, has partnered with Lotte Chemical to create a long-term ammonia supply chain between the US and South Korea. The companies intend to invest in a new green ammonia plant in the US, and have been considering ammonia supplied from CF Industries’ existing Blue Point Complex in Louisiana. The ammonia will eventually be imported to South Korea and go towards the bunker market and other applications.

By Konica Bhatt

Here is our selection of five top alternative fuels stories from this week:

MOL and Methanex achieve a major milestone in green methanol shipping

CEMEX partners with startup ETFuels to produce e-methanol for bunkering

CIP buys Anaergia’s Envo Biogas in Denmark

Topsoe teams up with CIP for US Gulf Coast blue ammonia plant

CF Industries and Lotte Chemical to scale ammonia supply chain