05/20/2024 – 18:07
Researchers are advancing in the development of “green methanol”, a promising CO2-based fuel. In addition to being used in industry, it could soon power cars and ships. In a world desperately seeking solutions to climate change, for a group of scientists, the answer to sustainable mobility could be hanging in the air – literally.
In Germany’s Lindau, a city in the state of Bavaria with vast valleys and lakes that look like something out of a fairy tale, a company is transforming carbon dioxide into green fuel.
“We believe that CO2 is not just waste, but can be a resource for all types of products”, explains Johannes Prock, chemist and technology director at Obrist Group, an Austrian technology company with more than 20 years of experience in systems. automotive.
They use CO2 to produce what has been dubbed “green methanol,” a chemical compound that several industries consider a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
To achieve this, Prock and his team use “direct air capture,” or DAC, a technology that filters CO2 from the atmosphere and makes it suitable for industrial purposes. Although it seems like something out of a science fiction book, the technology has existed for more than 10 years, but has never been available on a large scale for these purposes.
“It works well on a small scale,” says Prock, “but the real technical difficulty is building large facilities and ensuring the process remains efficient.”
Is “green methanol” a viable solution?
The main problem may be money. This is what biochemical engineer Anna Mas Herrador, who researches “direct air capture” technology at Rovira i Virgili University in Spain, says: “The most significant obstacle to the large-scale implementation of DAC is the high cost involved. ”
Support and current research can speed up the process. “Other low-carbon technologies, such as batteries or solar panels, have seen significant cost reductions in the recent past. This is also expected to happen soon with the DAC”, explains Mas Herrador.
For now, Prock and his team are testing Tesla cars modified to function as hybrids. They have combined a smaller electric battery with a methanol engine and are putting the vehicles on the streets of Lindau.
“Electric vehicles generally have an expensive and heavy battery. With our hybrid models, manufacturing costs are reduced by more or less half,” says Frank Obrist, CEO and founder of the Obrist Group. “The idea is to offer vehicles of this type for 25 thousand euros (R$ 138.6 thousand) to the average citizen.”
Criticism of “green methanol”
For environmental consultant Carlos Bravo Villa, allowing the use of synthetic e-fuels such as “green methanol” in road transport could put the entire decarbonization effort at risk.
“The decarbonization of transport is a major challenge, and there is no room for the inefficient use of electricity,” he says.
According to a study presented in 2023 by Transport and Environment and other European climate organizations, increasing the use of e-fuels in road transport requires the additional generation of a large amount of renewable energy. And, to do so, it would be necessary to install a significant number of new renewable energy plants.
“If you put renewable electricity directly into a car battery, you get up to five times more energy efficiency than if you use that electricity to produce green fuel,” highlights Bravo Villa.
However, electric cars are not available to everyone. The Obrist Group argues that they are still very expensive, and that hybrid models of this type can accelerate the transition to less polluting cars. “We cannot shift the entire automotive industry to electric cars. So, we need a different and ecologically correct possibility to resolve this issue”, argues Prock.
Although electric car sales have been growing in recent years, we may be at an inflection point. Economic consultancy BloombergNEF estimates that global sales of electric vehicles will reach 16.7 million units in 2024, but also predicts a slowdown for the same period. In April, Tesla said it would accelerate the launch of cheaper models after reporting disappointing sales numbers for the third consecutive quarter.
For environmental consultant Bravo Villa, it is necessary to maintain the focus on electric cars. “Hybrid cars don’t make any sense, not even using this methanol [verde], and even less so at the moment, with the accelerated evolution of battery technology, which will continue to improve in the short term”, he states. “In parallel, the implementation of the necessary public charging infrastructure is already underway.”
Promising for the shipping sector
While the focus of “green methanol” is generally on cars, the fuel also shows promise in other areas. “It can be used as a raw material for the chemical industry and as fuel for ships”, highlights Prock.
Bravo Villa approves: “It would be an excellent option for maritime transport, where the possibilities of using batteries like those in cars are still very limited.”
Likewise, DAC technology can play an important role in fuel generation. “It has promising potential, as it offers the ability to capture CO2 directly from the air, regardless of geographic location,” explains Mas Herrador. “It can be complementary to other climate change mitigation measures, such as reducing emissions and using renewable energy.”
As the sun sets on Lindau, it becomes clear that a permanent solution is still out of reach. A future where sustainable mobility is a reality may be close, but achieving it will require more than just air.
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