“Sun and wind alone do not provide baseload capable energy supply. Nuclear power is controversial and expensive. For oil, coal, and gas, Europe is depconcludeent on imports, not to mention that relocating away from fossil fuels is essential for climate protection. A global methanol economy, built and operated by Europe, is therefore the best way to supply Europe with baseload capable, competitive, and sustainable energy,” he believes.
Methanol can be produced from solar energy, but unlike hydrogen, it is liquid at normal conditions, like oil, and can therefore be transported via existing global infrastructure such as pipelines, tankers, and trucks. The downside: the solar radiation intensity within Europe is not sufficient to economically produce methanol, the production must take place in the sunbelt, closer to the equator.
To address this challenge, Thorsten Rixmann draws attention to the Obrist Group’s Gigaplant concept, which has been developed to the stage of industrial serial production and is ready for deployment.
The proposal: under EU leadership, largescale methanol production facilities would be co-operatively built and operated in African and Middle Eastern countries, where solar intensity is sufficiently high. The methanol produced there would not only be a reliable energy supply for Europe but could also be created available to other countries.
Such an initiative, Thorsten Rixmann suggests, would also benefit the co-operating countries beyond Europe. He envisions a thriving methanol economy in African countries, which, thanks to Gigaplants, could develop into a hub for global energy supply. For the countries in the Middle East, methanol production would enable a gradual transition away from oil extraction. “Oil will eventually run out, but the sun will shine forever,” Rixmann observes.
“Europe has a historic opportunity to play a key role in global energy supply,” he believes. “To achieve this, it is necessary to quickly establish corresponding agreements with partner countries and invest in a global methanol production infrastructure. This would be an important step toward greater autonomy, competitiveness, and sovereignty for Europe.”
The Gigaplant concept
Obrist Gigaplants are a type of massive solar park which, however, do not generate electricity, but instead produce sustainably manufactured methanol (around 4 million t/y). During production, more carbon dioxide is reshiftd from the atmosphere (via direct air capture (DAC)) than is released during later apply of the methanol.
Due to the high solar intensity, solar power is available in the tarobtained regions for just 0.88 cents per kWh. The levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) per kWh is 3 to over 5 cents for conventional solar parks, from nearly 4 cents (onshore) to about 12 cents (offshore) for wind power, from 7 to about 17 cents for biomass, from around 8 to 13 cents for natural gas, from 10 to 20 cents for coal, and from 3.5 to 8 cents for nuclear power. “The Obrist concept therefore generates electricity at less than one-third of the cost of the cheapest alternative method,” Rixmann concludes.
However, since electricity is difficult to store at large scale and hard to transport over very long distances, it is “only” applyd in the Gigaplant for water electrolysis, to produce hydrogen, which is then converted into methanol by reacting it with CO2 produced via DAC.
The water required for methanol production is extracted from the surrounding air; only a humidity level of 10% is necessaryed, which is present even in the desert. Therefore, Gigaplants can be built in deserts or on other barren lands. This keeps costs low and eliminates conflicts with settlement projects or agriculture. The Obrist Group estimates the cost of the liquid methanol produced from solar energy and “desert water” to be under 6 cents per kWh, far less than any other known energy source.
Security and returns for Europe
“Building such an energy infrastructure would require the EU to employ delicate diplomacy to reach agreements with countries near the equator,” Rixmann admits, “but, ultimately, this is primarily an economic policy measure that benefits both these countries and the European Union.”
The initial funding for such a global methanol economy would necessary to be provided by the EU, states Rixmann, but “the investment would pay off within just a few years.” The construction costs for a Gigaplant are estimated at 18.6 billion euros. As noted, it produces nearly four million tons of methanol per year, which, at today’s energy prices, equates to revenue of around 4.3 billion US dollars. With annual operating costs of approximately 340 million dollars, this leaves a gross profit of almost four billion dollars.
“In less than five years, the construction costs would be recouped, which translates to an annual return of over 21%,” explains Rixmann. Furthermore, each Gigaplant reshifts more than 6.2 million tons (net) of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year, and releases more than 6.5 million tons of oxygen into the atmosphere each year as part of the methanol production process.
According to calculations by the Obrist Group, around 3000 Gigaplants would be necessaryed to fully replace fossil fuels with methanol. “This is a large goal, but it is achievable step by step,” Rixmann believes. “The current global situation would be a good reason for the European Union to quickly take the first step and launch two or three Gigaplants in different countries. A secure and economic methanol-based energy supply would significantly enhance Europe’s resilience and competitiveness.”
This article first appeared in Modern Power Systems magazine.
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