Methanol can be used as a fuel for internal combustion engines, mainly in combination with petrol. As a fuel, methanol has received a less attention than bioethanol as an alternative to petroleum based fuels. Presently, methanol is usually produced using natural gas as a raw material.
Mannvit Engineering is currently working on a basic design and project management for Carbon Recycling International, an Icelandic/American venture company, in utilising geothermal environments to convert CO2 into methanol. Carbon Recycling International plans to capture CO2 emitted from a geothermal power plant and use the electricity from the same plant to electrolyse water into hydrogen and then combine H2 and CO2 to produce methanol.
The recycling of CO2 results in a net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and this cost effective conversion of CO2 into fuel enables a sustainable production of renewable fuel.
Carbon Recycling International has developed clean technology which enables direct conversion of renewable energy to fuel at smaller or large scale plants and which can take advantage of distributed energy systems. Energy sources can be from any renewable source such as geothermal, hydro, wind or solar, resulting in clean liquid renewable fuel. The synthesis process consists of an integrated system of electrolytic and catalytic reactions, facilitating an efficient production plant with a streamlined design.