Name: Denmark leads the way with first large-scale E-methanol production
Uploaded: 2025-11-09T12:14:34.510Z
Duration: 2 min 1 s
Description: With COP30 kicking off on Monday, world leaders are set to discuss new strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - with a particular focus on the shipping industry. One potential solution is e-methanol, now being produced on a large scale for the first time in Denmark. Gabrielle Nadler has the story.

With COP30 kicking off on Monday, world leaders are set to discuss new strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions - with a particular focus on the shipping industry. One potential solution is e-methanol, now being produced on a large scale for the first time in Denmark. Gabrielle Nadler has the story.

Kassø

Denmark has inaugurated the world's first large-scale e-methanol production facility in Kassø, aiming to support the global transition to green energy. E-methanol, produced using renewable electricity and biogenic carbon dioxide, is positioned as a sustainable alternative to traditional methanol derived from fossil fuels.

The facility, co-owned by European Energy, has an annual production capacity of 40,000 tons, which is significantly less than the 100 million tons of methanol currently consumed worldwide. While e-methanol could help reduce emissions in sectors such as shipping, experts caution that the technology is energy-intensive and currently more expensive than conventional options, though price parity is expected by 2030.

Denmark leads the way with first large-scale E-methanol production

As climate change worsens and fossil fuels run out, finding new green energy sources is of the essence. The world's first large-scale e-methanol facility in Kassa, Denmark, is trying to foster the green transition. E-methanol is made using renewable energy by splitting a water atom with an electrolyzer and then combining the pure hydrogen in a reactor tower with biogenic carbon dioxide. European Energy, the company that co-owns the facility, intends for e-methanol to be a green alternative to traditional methanol made with fossil fuels. The world market today is 100 million tons of methanol. And part of the consumers of that want to green their supply chain. So it can be in shipping for fuel, which is actually new for methanol. That's even an additional use of methanol. Decarbonizing the shipping sector, which has grown to account for about 3% of global emissions, is a focus for global leaders and an issue set to be discussed at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, on Monday. E-methanol could help green the industry by replacing the large amount of fossil fuels used by vessels to transport cargo across the globe. However, environmental experts warn it may not be a cost-effective solution. Given the electricity is green, the e-methanol is also green. But this is also a very energy-demanding and therefore expensive technology. And we can get five times higher climate benefit from using the green electricity to power, for example, an electric car compared to using it for e-methanol. European Energy's CEO, Erik Andersen, says the company expects price parity with fossil fuels by 2030. Even so, the facility's current e-methanol production capacity is 40,000 tons annually, a ways away from replacing the 100-million-ton global market for methanol produced with fossil fuels.

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