RODEKRO: Europe's largest "green" methanol plant opened in Denmark on Tuesday, boosting the continent's emissions reduction efforts — with customers ranging from shipping giant Maersk to toymaker Lego and pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk.
Sitting next to northern Europe's biggest solar panel field and a large transformer station in the Danish countryside, the site will produce e-methanol, a synthetic fuel made from renewable energy and carbon dioxide.
The site, called Kasso, is only the third e-methanol plant in operation in the world after locations in China and the United States, according to the French Bureau of E-fuels.
"Our strategy is to scale up. The next plant will be three times bigger," said Jaime Casasus-Bribian, head of projects at Danish company European Energy, which co-owns the plant with Japanese firm Mitsui.
The facility will produce up to 42,000 tonnes of e-methanol per year, the equivalent of 50 million litres.
The e-methanol will serve as fuel for Maersk ships, raw material for Lego's colourful plastic bricks and a component for Novo Nordisk's insulin injection pens. While the plant is a milestone for Europe, it is small on a global scale.
Maersk alone would need two million tonnes of green methanol each year by 2030 if it were to reduce its fleet's carbon footprint by just 10 per cent, according to its own estimates.
Laura Maersk, the company's first container ship to sail on e-methanol, will fill up at the neighbouring Aabenraa port every quarter, enough to allow it to sail for one month. — AFP
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