1. MefCO2 - Methanol fuel from CO2
Synthesis of methanol from captured carbon dioxide using surplus electricity
April 2016

2. MefCO2 at a glance Our team: Our project:
MefCO2 (Methanol fuel from CO2) aims to demonstrate the economic feasibility of valorising captured CO2 by turning it into a versatile platform chemical and renewable fuel such as methanol using hydrogen produced from renewable energy surplus.
Our team:
MefCO2 is a joint effort of multinational companies, SMEs and research centers from 7 countries
i-deals (Spain)  Coordination, dissemination & exploitation
National Institute of Chemistry Slovenia (Slovenia)  Catalysis and reaction engineering
Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe (Germany)  System integrator
Subcontractor: STEAG (Germany)  Power plant owner
Cardiff Catalysis Institute (UK)  Research in catalyst synthesis
Carbon Recycling International (Iceland)  CO2 to methanol technology developer
DIME - University of Genoa (Italy)  Thermo-economic analysis and process optimisation
Hydrogenics Europe (Belgium)  Electrolyser technology developer
University of Duisburg Essen (Germany)  CO2 capture technology provider
MefCO2 proposal - Section 2

3. Our approach: MefCO2 H2 production 600 kW PEM electrolyser
507 MW Coal fired power plant
Lünen (Germany)
Post-combustion CO2 amine scrubber
MeOH plant
Max MeOH output kg/day
Max CO2 input kg/day
MHPSE’s Communication department

4. Our progress
D1.1 - Set of catalysts and their characterisation
MS synthesised catalysts in mg amounts
MS synthesised catalysts characterized
MS3 - Performance of 60 synthesised catalysts tested
D5.3 & MS14 - Annual coordination report (1)
D5.1 - Business plan
D5.2 - Dissemination and exploitation plan
TODAY
WP1: 92 catalysts synthesised, characterised and performance tested (target 60)
WP2: Process conditions analysis using the 30 most promising catalysts from WP1
WP3: Basic engineering, basic on-site arrangement plan & preliminary thermo economic model completed preliminary thermo economic model completed
WP4: Construction initiated of a custom PEM electrolyser
WP5: BP completed and dissemination initiated in investment and policy forums, universities.

5. Project outcomes
WP2: Effect of process conditions during continuous operations
WP1 and WP2 progress:
WP1: 92 catalysts have been synthesised and characterized (from standard CZA to Ni-Ga-Si candidate).
WP2: Research on process conditions is being carried out with the 30 most promising catalysts synthetized and characterised in WP1.
WP2: Modeling of different reactor configurations.
Responsible partners
MefCO2 proposal - Section 2
Workflow with different catalyst particle sizes and shapes
SEM –EDS characterisation of catalyst tested in WP2

6. Project outcomes
WP3: Scale up to industrial process and linking reactant and products sides
WP3 progress:
Basic engineering completed
Permitting process and on-site preparations underway
HAZID-HAZOP studies close to finalisation
Preliminary thermo-economic analysis
Responsible partners
MefCO2 proposal - Section 2
Preliminary evaluation of the main cost/revenue sources
3D model of the turbine hall with all the test rigs

7. Expected benefits Environmental benefits Social benefits
CCU creates revenue streams from CO2 partially compensating CCS associated costs and contributing to accelerating its deployment.
Green methanol blending with gasoline or green methanol derived fuels (DME, MTBE) contribute to the EC’s 10% target of renewable energy use in transportation and the non binding 0,5% share of advanced fuels.
Social benefits
Job creation: A 50,000+ ton/year green methanol production plant can create direct jobs and more than 500 indirect jobs1
Job preservation: CCU+CCS can help carbon leakage sensitive industries, such as the steel or cement industry, to maintain its competiveness while reducing their emissions.
Economic benefits
MefCO2 results could contribute to the reduction of the dependency on methanol imports in the EU Mtons1 where imported between Dec 2014-Nov 2015
Increasing direct blending of methanol with gasoline in the EU-28 up to 3% v/v limit2 would add 2.2 Mton/years of additional methanol demand (1 Mtoe of gasoline exports could be replaced on a energy content basis).
As a first approach it has considered that only one target market will be acquiring TP 2: power plants. The remaining targets (chlor-alkali plants, steel mills and oil refineries) are assumed to be interested in purchasing TP 1 and would have the same value proposition requiring different levels of hydrogen production.
1 L. Bromberg and W.K. Cheng (2010), Methanol as an alternative transportation fuel in the US: Options for sustainable and/or energy-secure transportation. Indirect job creation multiple can be between 5,3 and 9.
2Source: Eurostat
3 Directive 98/70/EC, as amended by Directive 2009/30/EC