Recently, the Dutch company CEPSA, has signed an alliance with a Spanish liquid energy storage firm to promote the so-called “Andalusian Valley of Green Hydrogen.” Now, a revolutionary project for a new fuel derived from green hydrogen is added to this initiative. It will place Spain as a leader in the production and export of sustainable energies.
The new fuel that Spain will produce
After the announcement of a energy collaboration between Spain and the Netherlands, a new firm points its interests towards our country to promote the e-methanol market. The reason for the growing interest in our Peninsula from energy companies is the solid infrastructure and constant investment in renewable energy. This has led to us having the cheapest energy in Europe.
E-methanol is a derivative of green hydrogen that allows the production of clean energy while capturing CO2 from the environment, thus achieving a negative CO2 value, since it converts electricity from renewable sources into H2. This hydrogen gas is then mixed with carbon dioxide from the air, reducing pollution and producing green methanol or e-methanol.
The Danish company European Energy is preparing four e-methanol production projects in Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia and Aragon. Each of these plants dedicated to the new fuel would report investments of between 700 and 1000 million euros. With this ambitious budget, Spain would comfortably position itself as the leading clean energy country in Europe.
Spain, leader in green hydrogen
To produce e-methanol, the use of electrical energy is crucial, which makes up between 60% and 70% of the total production cost of the new fuel. What is done is to separate hydrogen molecules from water through electrolysis. These free molecules are then combined with CO2 extracted from the air, thus achieving a negative level of emissions. E-methanol is used in a wide variety of applications.
The reason why our country has aroused so much interest is because to the extensive infrastructure of wind, photovoltaic and other renewable energy sources and clean. This allows these e-methanol companies to carry out more ambitious projects thanks to the more accessible costs for the electricity that these plants will demand.
European Energy plans to replicate the formula for success of Kassø, a project that demonstrated great results by converting renewable energy into CO2-free products such as this new green fuel. These collaborations between different territories allow us to more efficiently take advantage of the resources that abound in each region through the circular economy.
Applications for e-methanol
The new fuel that will begin to be produced in these plants offers applications that could greatly reduce emissions. E-methanol can be used in conventional combustion engines with a 90% reduction in emissions. It is also used to produce electricity and as raw material for the chemical industry.
Considering that one of the most important obstacles to the massive use of green methanol are the costs associated with infrastructure, the production and logistics network that these multinational alliances are building represents a brilliant solution. By collaborating with other regions we can compensate for what is scarce in an area in exchange for what is abundant in the local territory.
The new green fuel market
Currently, e-methanol is already beginning to be used in applications such as the large 13L Scania engine that uses green methanol. The projects that are attracting these important investments for our territory represent an infrastructure network for a growing green fuel market whose demand is expected to increase to 300 million tons per year of e-methanol.
