
Flue Gas to Methanol – Electrocatalytic Technologyfor Integrating CO2 into the Circular Economy
Efficient technologies for capturing and utilizing carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial exhausts will be crucial to mitigate global warming and develop a sustainable industry. Furthermore, by converting waste CO2 into value-added products, such as methanol, CO2 can be integrated into a circular economy with the effects of reduced CO2 emissions to the atmosphere as well as increased resource efficiency and reduced CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. The “Flue gas to methanol” project comprises feasibility studies to evaluate the potential of scaling up a novel carbon capture and utilization (CCU) technology, that uses electricity to directly capture and convert CO2 from flue gas to so-called e-methanol. The successful outcome of this project is expected towill pave the way for large-scale CO2 capture and e-methanol production from industrial exhausts, which wouldill accelerate the green industrial transition and promote Swedish industry’s competitiveness, resilience and green leadership on the global market.
The novel CCU technology, developed by the start-up CarbGen AB, is based on a unique electrolysis cell which, thanks to the state-of-the-art yet simple cell and electrode design, is capable of selectively capturing CO2 directly from flue gas (a mixture of gases) and converting it into highly pure e-methanol. The pure e-methanol produced can be used as a green alternative to conventional fossil feedstock, both as an e-fuel in the transport industry as well as a high-quality feedstock chemical widely used for example within manufacturing of fine chemicals, such as pharmaceuticals manufacturing. In contrast to existing methods developed at industrial scale, CarbGen’s technology offers a single CCU process, facilitating both CO2 capture and e-methanol formation in one electrochemical reaction, and does not rely on the production of green hydrogen gas. Instead of hydrogen gas, water is used as a direct proton-source in the reaction. Overall, CarbGen’s novel CCU process has potential to radically reduce the complexity and lower high energy demand by at least 20% compared to existing industrial-scale e-methanol production methods.
The “Flue gas to methanol” project is conducted by a consortium consisting of leading actors in Swedish industry and pioneers within CCU technologies, including CarbGen AB (coordinator), Rottneros AB, Stiftelsen Chalmers Industriteknik and Copper Lavender AB. The feasibility studies involve validation tests of an electrolysis cell prototype with industrial flue gas from Rottneros’ pulp industry, risk and opportunity analyses, and project planning, which aims to prepare for an industrial-scale pilot project (Impact Innovation stage 2). The goal of this pilot project will be to develop a pilot plant to demonstrate CarbGen’s technology at industrial conditions, with a potential capacity to capture and convert up to tens of kilo-tonnes of CO2 from industrial flue gas to e-methanol per year.