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Maersk makes second move to secure methanol
AP Møller-Mærsk has invested in Californian bio-methanol start-up WasteFuel on the heels of an e-methanol sourcing agreement the container shipping giant secured in Europe
The Denmark-based organisation said its corporate-venture arm Mærsk Growth had made the deal to back the start-up focused on turning waste into sustainable aviation fuel, green bio-methanol and renewable natural gas.
Mærsk did not specify the amount of investment but said the investment would facilitate the development of ’biorefineries’ on the part of WasteFuel.
"Mærsk’s investment will enable WasteFuel to develop biorefineries that utilise the most effective technologies available to produce sustainable fuels from unrecoverable waste that would otherwise degrade, and release methane and other harmful emissions into the atmosphere," Mærsk said.
The company said it is confident that green bio-methanol can be scaled up to help in decarbonising supply chains "within the next 10-15 years".
"For each feedstock and project, we evaluate its sustainability as well as the emission reductions, using lifecycle analysis including all greenhouse gases," Mærsk said.
- Mærsk blazes trail for methanol in box ship sector
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In mid-2021, AP Møller-Mærsk committed to building eight carbon-neutral methanol-fuelled container vessels, with an option for four more vessels.
The company placed the newbuild order with Hyundai Heavy Industries for a series of up to a dozen 16,000-TEU container vessels.
Eight of the vessels are part of the initial, firm order, with the first of the vessels set for delivery in Q1 2024. An option for four additional vessels could be confirmed for 2025, the company said.
Mærsk said the dual-fuel vessels would replace older vessels, generating annual CO2 emissions savings of around a million tonnes for the company.
The carbon neutrality of the vessels, tied to the availabilty of carbon-neutral methanol, is not guaranteed, and Mærsk said sourcing the fuel would be "challenging," initially.
"We know that sourcing an adequate amount of green fuel for our methanol-fuelled vessels will be very challenging, as it requires a significant production ramp up globally. Collaboration and partnerships are key to scaling the production and distribution of sustainable fuels, and we look forward to doing exactly that with WasteFuel; exploring potential future green solutions not just for our vessels, but also for Maersk aviation and trucking activities," Mærsk vice president of decarbonisation Morten Bo Christiansen said.
Mærsk’s first collaboration, announced in August 2021, is with the Danish e-methanol facility REintegrate, a subsidiary of the Danish renewable energy company European Energy.
A new Danish facility developed by REintegrate and European Energy will produce 10,000 tonnes of carbon-neutral e-methanol to meet the fuel consumption for Maersk’s newbuild 2,100-TEU feeder ship. The methanol facility will use renewable energy and biogenic CO2 to produce the e-methanol. The fuel production is expected to start in 2023.
The energy needed for the power-to-methanol production will be provided by a solar farm in Kassø, southern Denmark. It is yet to be decided where in Denmark the power-to-methanol facility will be located.
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