HIF Global, an eFuels company, has selected Johnson Matthey (JM), a manufacturer of sustainable technologies, as the methanol licensor for its Paysandu eFuels project in Uruguay.
The e-methanol facility in South America will use electrolytic (green) hydrogen and waste CO2 from an ethanol plant to produce e-methanol by using renewable feedstocks, which helps produce a lower carbon fuel as compared to traditional methanol.
"The market for sustainable methanol fuels is growing rapidly and presents an important solution to decarbonize the shipping, road transport, and other industries," said Alberto Giovanzana, Managing Director of CT Licensing at Johnson Matthey.
JM's e-methanol eMERALD technology will be deployed at the eFuels facility to produce an expected capacity of 700,000 tons of e-methanol annually. The e-methanol will not only support an increasing demand from the marine market but also feedstock to produce e-gasoline through a methanol-to-gasoline process, facilitating the decarbonization of over 150,000 vehicles.
"eFuels are a replacement for fossil fuels and are a necessary solution for decarbonizing global transport. We have already demonstrated the capability to produce eFuels with green hydrogen and recycled CO2, using Johnson Matthey's technology at our Haru Oni eFuels facility in southern Chile," said Victor Turpaud, CEO at HIF Latam.
HIF Global will invest $4 billion in the facility and has announced plans to build additional eFuels projects in the US, Tasmania, and Chile. Construction of the Uruguay plant is planned for 2025 and is expected to create about 1,500 jobs during construction, with an additional 300 permanent operational positions.
The project is supported by successfully demonstrating the eMERALD technology in the HIF Haru Oni eFuels facility, where JM licensed its technology and supplied the catalyst. The demo plant has operated for over 12 months, producing methanol, which is further processed into gasoline.
