As industries and end-markets face increasing pressure to cut emissions, renewable methanol is emerging as a scalable and efficient low-carbon alternative to conventional fossil fuels. Methanol can be made from feedstocks such as electrolytic hydrogen, biomass, municipal waste, and biogenic or atmospheric CO2. As a result, methanol – a simple alcohol, CH₃OH – could play a role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while integrating into existing industrial, transport and energy infrastructure.

Renewable methanol can be produced through two primary pathways. One, e-methanol, can be produced by capturing CO2 from industrial emissions, biogenic CO2 or direct air capture, which is then combined with green hydrogen from electrolysis to create methanol. In Johnson Matthey’s eMERALD process, e-methanol is produced by feed compression, a methanol synthesis loop, hydrogen recovery and distillation.

Alternatively, bio-methanol is derived from biomass or organic waste through gasification. This process can convert renewable feedstocks such as forestry residues, agricultural waste and municipal solid waste into synthesis gas, which is then catalytically transformed into methanol. Biomass gasification involves converting solid biomass into syngas. Biomass-derived syngas contains different contaminants than fossil-based syngas, such as sulphur and chlorines, which creates additional challenges in gasification and methanol synthesis. After the gas is cleaned, it is catalytically converted into methanol.