{"id":156132,"date":"2025-01-10T07:20:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T06:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=156132"},"modified":"2025-01-06T14:53:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T13:53:34","slug":"the-case-for-carbon-utilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/the-case-for-carbon-utilization\/","title":{"rendered":"The Case for Carbon Utilization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
While many companies are developing ways to remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere and sequester them deep underground, other innovators are exploring ways to use carbon emissions, turning them into valuable fuels and chemicals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
\nShipping Applications: Technology developers are increasingly looking to carbon transformation over sequestration. \u00a9 STOCK\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
For decades, many ethanol producers have been selling their CO2 on the merchant market for uses such as freezing meat and carbonating beverages, but new processes and technologies are enabling producers to find even more attractive outlets for their CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Carbon Sink was founded in 2019, there were no green methanol-powered ships in the world\u2019s oceans, explains Randy Roy, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Carbon Sink. Still, the company\u2019s founders acted on the momentum toward a green fuel they identified in the marketplace. \u201cWe saw an opportunity to build a business around capturing very pure, abundant CO2 from ethanol plants in the Midwestern U.S. and combining that with hydrogen manufactured using relatively inexpensive renewable electricity, also located in the Midwest,\u201d Roy says.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the passage of legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act as well as the presence of over 400 dual-fueled ships capable of burning green methanol and increasing demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), the market has developed as Carbon Sink\u2019s founders expected. \u201cWe believed the landscape would change in a way that would make our business model more viable when we embarked on his journey,\u201d Roy says. \u201cThe shipping industry has embraced methanol as a replacement for diesel, and the airline industry has also embraced SAF as a replacement for fossil-based jet fuel. In addition, there is increased state and federal support for renewable energy and carbon capture and utilization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company has signed letters of intent with five ethanol plants to build green methanol facilities. Currently, the only publicly announced project is located at Red River Energy in Rosholt, South Dakota. Carbon Sink serves the role of a project developer, primarily using technologies created by other companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every 50 MMgy ethanol plant produces enough CO2 to make roughly 100,000 metric tons of methanol each year, Roy explains. The amount of methanol produced is equivalent to about two-thirds the volume of ethanol produced at the nearby ethanol plant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project development process starts with negotiations with the ethanol plant on supplying CO2 and, in some cases, water and land. Negotiations are also made with technology developers for the various plant components, and terms for offtake agreements must be negotiated with the parties receiving the green methanol or SAF. After negotiations are completed and technology vendors are selected, the next phase can begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt that point, we would hire a third party to complete the engineering work and then raise the capital we need to construct the project,\u201d Roy says. \u201cOur typical project, which would be co-located with a 50 MMgy ethanol plant, would cost in the range of $150 million to construct.\u201d Because Carbon Sink\u2019s first facility is a \u201cfairly early stage project,\u201d and there are not many facilities like it in the world, Roy anticipates that the $150 million price tag will come down by nearly 25% over time after the first project is completed, reaching approximately $100 million by year seven. Carbon Sink\u2019s first project is planned for completion in 2029.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs you can imagine, we are all for [CO2] transformation,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause we know we can create a zero-CI score product, a real zero-CI score product, a form of SAF or methanol, and you can\u2019t do that by putting CO2 in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Catalysts and Syngas<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n
\nProcess Dynamics: HYCO1’s technology converts CO2, methane and water into syngas for use in chemicals and fuels. \u00a9 HYCO1<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
HYCO1 uses its proprietary catalyst to convert carbon dioxide and natural gas into syngas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen). Kurt Dieker, co-founder and chief development officer of HYCO1, explains that the company\u2019s name was born out of its technology\u2019s capability to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide at a one-to-one ratio. Greg Carr, Jeff Brimhall and Dieker launched the company in February 2021. The technology\u2019s resulting syngas can be utilized to make a variety of downstream products via Fischer Tropsch technology, including low-CI hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Traditional hydrogen is made by steam methane reformers using more steam than is necessary for the chemical reaction to make the hydrogen. This \u201csteam cleaning\u201d of the catalyst prevents the reformer from coking\u2014filling up with carbon. \u201cThe catalyst for HYCO1, that is the innovation \u2026 it\u2019s a non-coking catalyst,\u201d Dieker says. \u201cThat allows us to do \u2026 what\u2019s called dry methane reforming or methane reforming without water at all. That\u2019s been the Holy Grail reaction because it\u2019s the most efficient reaction\u2014the historical problem is coking.\u201d The catalyst can be used for both dry methane reforming and steam methane reforming, or a blend of the two, improving the operator\u2019s efficiency and flexibility in operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since HYCO1\u2019s technology recognizes \u201ccarbon as carbon,\u201d it converts CO2 into syngas at the same rate as methane, making CO2 an equivalent feedstock to RNG from a chemistry standpoint. The ethanol industry is \u201clow-hanging fruit\u201d for the company because, as Dieker explains, the industry is among the \u201cmost mature\u201d in carbon market knowledge and produces biogenic, high-purity CO2 that is easy to capture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In July 2024, HYCO1 announced a 20-year CO2 supplier agreement with Kansas Ethanol in Lyons, Kansas. Dieker explains that HYCO1 plans to build a facility capable of making 5,000 barrels per day or 80 MMgy of synthetics using natural gas and CO2 as the feedstock. Currently, Dieker and his team are in the detailed design phase of project development, working with multiple technology providers for downstream refining of products. \u201cThere are actually four technologies on site\u2014the first is ours, syngas which enables everything else to be more efficient, lower carbon intensity and therefore more sustainable,\u201d he says. \u201cThe second is a Fischer Tropsch technology, and then there\u2019s a refining section, or we\u2019ll call it a distillation and isomerization section, to polish the molecules, and separating the products is what you\u2019re doing on the back end.\u201d HYCO1 plans to capture all emitted CO2 and use it as a low-cost feedstock in the production process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HYCO1 has three different vertical paths to profitability, explains Dieker. First, swapping out existing catalysts in small modular reactors (SMR) within the syngas industry for HYCO1\u2019s catalyst offers a significant increase in efficiency and allows for CO2 to be used as an efficient feedstock with HYCO1\u2019s CUBE technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The second vertical is licensing of the carbon utilization catalyst technology to next-generation facilities by adding carbon capture technology or building new facilities with third-party project developers. \u201cThen you can actually use that CO2 as part of your feedstock and offset your natural gas or fossil fuel usage into that reformer,\u201d Dieker says. <\/p>\n\n\n
\nCommercial Execution: HYCO1 launched its first commercial operation at Agra Energy in New Franken, Wisconsin. \u00a9 Akil Bennett<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n
Third, HYCO1 is exploring production of high-value specialty products through internal projects\u2014like the one sited near Kansas Ethanol\u2014making jet fuels, base oils (group IV alternatives) and light alkanes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The HYCO1 team keeps the economics in mind when designing their facilities, targeting low CI scores while keeping their products affordable for consumers. \u201cIf you\u2019re looking at CI with renewable diesel or jet or base oils, base oils are 110 grams per megajoule\u2014we\u2019re under 30 without adding any carbon attributes to the gas,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can add [low] carbon attributes, you can add renewable natural gas or landfill gas or others to that to even further improve it. What we\u2019ve found is users really don\u2019t want to pay for that premium.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Utilization Service<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The main goal for Jeff Bonar, CEO of CapCO2 Solutions, is to make a positive impact in addressing climate change while also supporting rural communities and bringing biofuels into the next generation. Through his company, he intends to take CO2 from ethanol plants and turn it into green methanol using low-cost renewable energy. CapCO2\u2019s \u201ccapture as a service\u201d business model captures and utilizes ethanol producers\u2019 CO2, but owns and operates the equipment, giving the ethanol producer a share of the profits as well as tax incentives. Producers can also choose to invest in the infrastructure to get an increased share of the profits. Integrating CapCO2\u2019s utilization into an ethanol producer\u2019s system grants them an estimated 25-point CI reduction under the GREET model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
CapCO2\u2019s disruptive technology allows green methanol to be made in relatively small and compact units, explains Bonar. \u201cRoughly nine or 10 feet in diameter, 25 to 28 feet long reactor vessels\u2014you can put it on a skid and that is the unit of work,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s 1\/20th the size of conventional methanol equipment and you can do it modularly, so we can manufacture them, deliver them on-site and hook them up.\u201d The footprint for the green methanol equipment is roughly equivalent to 30 to 40 shipping crates, and the design is intentionally straightforward. \u201cWe\u2019re not trying to build a whole new chemical factory next door,\u201d Bonar says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The equipment can be run intermittently, optimizing the process for when purchasing green energy is most cost effective. \u201cOur equipment works just fine if you turn it on and off, and in fact, we\u2019ll see as we scale up the plants, but we think we can make green methanol for roughly the same price as regular methanol because we will take advantage of electricity when no one else wants it,\u201d Bonar says. The other vital ingredient needed for making green methanol is water, roughly 25% the volume needed by an ethanol plant. Bonar explains that CapCO2 plans to look for ethanol producer partners in places where the local water supply will not be stressed by adding their facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of print time, CapCO2 had not yet announced an ongoing project, but Bonar explains that the company has identified some good candidates and anticipates a forthcoming announcement. A pilot plant currently under development will have one reactor, costing a total of $15 million. In comparison, a full-scale facility will cost $200 million to $300 million and be 30 to 35 times larger. The costs may vary depending on how consistently the plant is turned on and off, explains Bonar. If the producer takes the approach of running intermittently, a larger investment into CO2 storage infrastructure will be needed. A 100 MMgy ethanol plant would require 30 to 35 skids of equipment to produce around 63 MMgy of methanol. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bonar explains that, hypothetically, \u201cwe may only want to build it to handle 25% of the CO2 because there\u2019s a new wind farm being put in, but it\u2019s not going to be ready for another two years,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to kind of layer it into whatever else is being developed in the area, but, again, it\u2019s modular so there\u2019s no real significant cost to doing it a piece at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As these new technologies gain a foothold, the options grow for ethanol producers to lower their CI scores while increasing their profit margins. With various providers and cost structures available, it has perhaps never been easier for producers to explore a new approach to CO2 utilization. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While many companies are developing ways to remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere and sequester them deep underground, other innovators are exploring ways to use carbon emissions, turning them into valuable fuels and chemicals.\u00a0\u00a0 For decades, many ethanol producers have been selling their CO2 on the merchant market for uses such as freezing meat and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":156137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","nova_meta_subtitle":"New processes and technologies are enabling producers to find even more attractive outlets for their CO2","footnotes":""},"categories":[5571],"tags":[22970,12535,12330,21663,10617,13718,16792,15108,10743],"supplier":[23652,21660,23649],"class_list":["post-156132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-co2-based","tag-carbonsequestering","tag-catalysts","tag-ccu","tag-greenmethanol","tag-jetfuel","tag-methanol","tag-saf","tag-transportation","tag-useco2","supplier-capco2","supplier-carbon-sink","supplier-hyco1-inc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/59"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156132"},{"taxonomy":"supplier","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/supplier?post=156132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2025\/01\/SHIPPING_APPLICATIONS_i_Stock_1419625460_8a576b1b1d.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2025\/01\/PROCESS_DYNAMICS_FEB_EPM_07dde4a4be.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/media\/2025\/01\/COMMERCIAL_EXECUTION_FEB_EPM_2f1f42dafd.jpg\")