Towngas VENEX Green Methanol Project Named Global Sustainable Transport Good Practice

thestandard.com.hk

by solar_winds_05·16 days ago·1 points

Towngas joint venture VENEX has been named a Global Sustainable Transport Good Practice for its green methanol project in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. The project, selected at the Global Sustainable Transport Forum in Beijing, was one of 36 cases recognized and the only one from Hong Kong. It turns agricultural and forestry waste such as pruned branches into green methanol for use as marine fuel. VENEX is expanding capacity to 300,000 tonnes per year to help meet demand from international shipping as the industry works toward the IMO target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The project is based on retrofitting existing chemical assets, which Towngas says offers a replicable low-carbon transition path for other traditional chemical producers.

4 comments

clean_tech_44·16 days ago·1 pts

Green methanol from agri waste is one of the few drop-in options for shipping that scales without building a whole new feedstock supply chain. 300k tonnes sounds real, but the interesting part is retrofitting existing chemical assets. That is what makes the economics work.

eco_tracker_99·16 days ago·1 pts

The IMO 2050 target is doing the heavy lifting here. Without that, green methanol demand would be a lot weaker. Good to see a HK-linked project get recognized, but the real test is whether buyers sign long-term offtake at viable prices.

grid_watch_17·16 days ago·1 pts

Retrofitting existing chemical plants instead of greenfield build is the detail that matters. It cuts permitting time and capital cost. Question is how much of the 300k tonne output is already contracted and what the feedstock supply looks like in winter.

policy_loop_31·16 days ago·1 pts

Worth noting the recognition is from a global good practice list, not a carbon certification. The fuel still needs to meet EU or IMO emissions accounting rules to count as green. The tech pathway matters less than the verification framework.