Mitsui, Celanese joint venture starts CO2-to-methanol production

Fairway Methanol, a U.S.-based 50-50 joint venture (JV) between Japan’s Mitsui & Co. and U.S. Celanese Corporation, has begun the production of methanol by using carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from plants surrounding the venture’s facility.

According to Mitsui, Fairway Methanol is expected to capture 180 thousand metric tons of CO2 and produce 130 thousand metric tons of low-carbon methanol per year, which leads its annual production capacity to 1.63 million metric tons per year.

This methanol production, using industry-derived CO2, is one of the carbon capture and utilization (CCU) projects that Mitsui has undertaken.

The concept behind these projects considers CO2 as a resource that can be reused as a raw material, thus realizing carbon recycling and helping to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, Mitsui said, adding that this project provides the company with another low-carbon solution in its methanol business portfolio, following the bio-methanol production at Fairway Methanol and the e-methanol production at Solar Park Kasso, Denmark.

To remind, Mitsui agreed to agreed to acquire a stake in European Energy’s solar park and e-methanol production facility Kasso in Denmark back in the summer of 2023.

Kasso’s e-methanol is a low-carbon methanol produced by synthesizing green hydrogen made by feeding renewable-based electricity into an electrolyzer and green carbon dioxide (CO2) captured from biomass sources, and its e-methanol business produces up to 42,000 tons of e-methanol annually.