METHANOLOGY – they abbreviate themselves as MY – is a cleantech and engineering company based in Schaffhausen that aims to enable methanol production for household use. They became very early members of SPIN.
With the help of enzymes, hydrogen is synthesised with carbon into methanol in the mini-reactor. The carbon comes from CO2, which is filtered directly from the air in small, conventional Skytree devices.
Power-to-X vision for building heating
The vision: clean CO2 from used breathing air from buildings, use it for synthesis and use the methanol to heat buildings in winter. This is because methanol can be burned in existing oil and gas heating systems. It requires only minimal conversion, not to be compared with converting to heat pumps. The electricity for this is to come from the roof. The start-up is also working on optimisations for this.
The picture shows the prototype, which is currently being used to explore ways to increase efficiency. Its size hints at another part of the vision: the production of small modules that can be used in buildings and combined at will to form larger units.
Power-to-X-Methanol – the stuff dreams are made of
By the way… methanol is the second most traded liquid in the world. Previously produced from fossil fuels, it is mainly used in the chemical industry. But methanol can also power engines and is already used on ships and in trucks.
In Patagonia, with the help of Power-to-X the Chilean company HIF Chile produces synthetic – i.e. renewable – methanol from wind, water and CO2, which is then used to make synthetic petrol in a refinery for Porsche. It is generally assumed that synthetic, power-to-X-based methanol will play a key role in the energy transition and also in the defossilisation of the chemical industry.
Further information: www.methanology.com