Cummins Inc. Selected By The UK Department Of Transport For Its High-Horsepower Methanol Vessel Retrofit Project
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from Cummins.
This is sub-heading.
One of Only 10 Flagship Projects Chosen in the Multi-Million-Pound ZEVI Competition Enabling Decarbonization of the UK’s Maritime Sector
These three paragraphs outline the project.
Today, Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) announced the selection of its proposal to jointly develop a Methanol Kit for its QSK60 engine as part of the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure (ZEVI) competition, funded by the UK Government and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. To be chosen as one of the top 10 projects, Cummins delivered a proposal to collaborate with a major UK port and operators to develop, deploy and operate clean maritime technology solutions on the path to decarbonization and reduction to the overall greenhouse gas footprint.
The £4.4M in total funding will be leveraged by Cummins and its fellow project stakeholders — Ocean Infinity, the Aberdeen Harbour Board, and Proman AG — in the deployment of a UK-designed and built methanol conversion kit for a high-horsepower marine internal combustion engine, offering the UK an important foothold in enabling the transition to cleaner maritime fuels.
Upon completion in the second quarter of 2025, the project targets a reduction in CO2 emissions of 50 percent for offshore operations of the vessel with NOx, SOx and PM at levels considerably below those emitted by conventional fuel. Furthermore, all retrofitted dual-fuel engines will achieve compliance with IMO Tier III emission standards.
They certainly aim to get a move on to complete by mid-2025.
I have some thoughts.
Methanol Fuel
The Wikipedia entry for methanol fuel, starts with this sentence.
Methanol fuel is an alternative biofuel for internal combustion and other engines, either in combination with gasoline or independently. Methanol (CH3OH) is less expensive to produce sustainably than ethanol fuel, although it produces more toxic effects than ethanol and has lower energy density than gasoline. Methanol is safer for the environment than gasoline, is an anti-freeze agent, prevents dirt and grime buildup within the engine, has a higher flashpoint in case of fire, and produces horsepower equivalent to that of super high-octane gasoline.
Methanol certainly seems to be an environmentally-friendly fuel, when compared to alternatives.
Production Of Green Methanol
This paragraph from the Wikipedia entry for methanol fuel, explains some of the routes to make green methanol.
Bio-methanol, also known as green-methanol, may be produced by gasification of organic materials to synthesis gas followed by conventional methanol synthesis. This route can offer renewable methanol production from biomass at efficiencies up to 75%. Widespread production by this route has a proposed potential to offer methanol fuel at a low cost and with benefits to the environment. Increasingly, methanol fuel has been produced using renewable energy and carbon dioxide as a feedstock. Carbon Recycling International, an Icelandic-American company, completed the first commercial scale renewable methanol plant in 2011. As of 2018, Enerkem has been producing biomethanol through the conversion and gasification of municipal solid waste at its Edmonton facility. As of July 2023, construction for the $1 billion Varennes Carbon Recycling Plant, which will produce biofuel such as methanol through non-recyclable and timber waste, is 30 percent complete.
Surely, if the C in CH3OH, which is the chemical formula for methanol, comes from captured carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or say a gas-fired power station, methanol can be a truly green fuel.
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