Presenting at the Trinidad and Tobago Energy Conference, Anita Gajadhar, Managing Director, Proman Shipping, provided an overview of the role methanol plays in the energy transition and the future of methanol in Trinidad and Tobago. 

She revealed that Proman, which is the second largest methanol producer in the world, has submitted a proposal to the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries to produce ‘bio-methanol’ using municipal waste from Trinidad and Tobago’s landfills. The process will have significant reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, Gajadhar said. 

Bio-methanol represents the best opportunity to become carbon-neutral, especially for Trinidad and Tobago, she said.

Gajadhar commented, “Imagine if we could use 85% of the waste that currently goes into the Beetham landfill and convert it into bio-methanol.” 

As part of wider efforts to promote global decarbonisation and increase recycling, Proman joined forces with GP Energy and Enerkem in August 2019 to submit a proposal to the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries for the Waste to Energy Project, she said. 

The Enerkem technology efficiently derives methanol from waste in Trinidad to reduce methanol production carbon intensity by up to 65%. 

Gajadhar said, “We project that this process will require up to 1,550 tonnes per day of waste —this is equivalent to approximately 120 full garbage trucks every day, therefore requiring waste not only from Beetham but also from the Guanapo and Forres Park landfills.” 

The bio-methanol output from the Trinidad and Tobago Bio Refinery can then be blended into the country’s gasoline, providing an opportunity to supply regionally produced, lower-cost, environmentally friendly petrol for the Caribbean and Latin American region. 

Trinidad and Tobago, as a leading methanol exporting country, could maintain its status as a pioneer in the Caribbean energy sector, blending between 3%- 15% of methanol into its gasoline pool with these blends, requiring zero engine modification to most modern vehicles, she said. 

Methanol has shifted in demand from uses as a petrochemical derivative to an energy application. In fact, Gajadhar said that 45% of methanol consumption is from energy applications with methanol consumed as a fuel. 

According to Gajadhar, methanol has lower emissions when used as a fuel when compared to other fuel sources and she added that methanol can also be generated renewably through net carbon neutral pathways. 

Renewable methanol is an ultra-low carbon chemical produced from sustainable biomass and is often referred to as bio-methanol. Renewable methanol can also be derived from hydrogen renewable electricity and CO2. 

The Methanol Institute found that renewable methanol can reduce emissions by 65-95% when compared to fossil fuels. Bio-methanol offers the highest potential in CO2 reduction when compared to any fuel currently being developed to displace fossil fuels, including green hydrocarbons. 

Based on 2017 costs, methanol fuel blending offers Trinidad and Tobago the opportunity to save approximately TT$73 million per year in fuel costs and the Caribbean TT$237 million, if regionally implemented. 

As a major methanol producer, Trinidad and Tobago has the opportunity to champion methanol gasoline blending for the benefit of the Caribbean region and support efforts to meet the Paris Accord commitments to cut emissions. 

Bio-methanol applications also extend to the marine fuel industry since it can assist shipping companies in meeting the International Monetary Fund (IMO) regulations for reducing sulphur content in fuel. The benefit to using methanol fuel blends is that it requires minimal infrastructure changes to terminals and bunkering barges.