New strategic collaboration aims to accelerate renewable methanol availability

September 10, 2025, by Sara Kosmajac

Massachusetts-based renewable fuel and chemical production technology company Emvolon and Freepoint Commodities, a commodities merchant, have decided to enter into a long-term strategic collaboration to speed up the manufacturing and distribution of renewable methanol.

According to officials from Emvolon—which is an MIT spinoff—the cooperation would seek to support low-carbon methanol offtake for industries such as maritime transportation and specialty chemicals, as well as aviation.

The endeavor would combine Emvolon’s proprietary technological solutions with Freepoint’s logistics reach, with the overarching aim of scaling up the production and distribution of commercial volumes of renewable methanol, which has been an attractive option, particularly among shipping stakeholders, to meet the net-zero goals.

To be more specific, as disclosed, the target will be to manufacture at least 6,000 tons per year by 2027, with intentions to ramp up the efforts to reach a manufacturing level of 50,000 tons annually by 2030. In doing so, the bipartite initiative would seek to ‘positively contribute’ to worldwide energy transition efforts, Emvolon has said.

Renewable methanol, with its low-carbon footprint, has emerged as a critical element in the global energy transition, serving both as a direct fuel and as a versatile feedstock for producing other chemicals and fuels. It is also one of the most widely traded chemicals in the world, with a $40 billion per annum market, according to Emvolon.

This ballooning demand is primarily driven by the shipping industry, which is believed to have already converted more than 250 ocean-going vessels to run on renewable methanol, driven by pressure from both the European Union’s (EU) and the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) environmental regulations that propose penalties of up to $380/ton for the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by ships.

The number of new orders for vessels powered by methanol has also been on the rise, with methanol coming in as a runner-up to liquefied natural gas (LNG) in a July 2025 report, representing 4.6 million GT (40 units) booked across the container, RoPax, tanker, offshore, and car carrier segments.

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To remind, in August this year, Emvolon also furthered its efforts regarding the production of this clean fuel, having launched a joint venture (JV) with renewable energy company Montauk Renewables to develop multiple biogas-to-green methanol projects.

As previously reported, the formation of the JV came on the heels of a field demonstration project conducted in 2024 that aimed to demonstrate the commercial viability of such an endeavor.

Through the JV, the parties said they would plan to deploy a portfolio of biogas-based sites with an aggregate annual production capacity of up to 50,000 metric tons by 2030, starting with Montauk’s Atascocita Humble Renewable Energy (HRE) facility in Humble, Texas.

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