Start-up ICODOS has built a plant that purifies biogas produced at a sewage treatment plant and turns it into climate-neutral methanol for ships using green hydrogen. The plant was opened on 24 March and is located at the Mannheim sewage treatment plant in Germany.
There are around 80,000 sewage treatment plants in Europe – and therefore plenty of potential for a new, climate-neutral process to produce methanol. ICODOS was founded at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
On 24 March, a consortium consisting of the Institute of Micro Process Engineering and the Institute of Automation and Applied Computer Science at KIT, the spin-off ICODOS and the Mannheim Municipal Sewage Company put a demonstration plant into operation that uses wastewater as a resource to produce climate-neutral methanol as a future marine fuel. Dr Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital and Transport, pressed the start button.
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Growth market of the future
‘In order to achieve our climate protection goals, we need to keep all technological options open. In addition to electrification and hydrogen-based drives, we need climate-friendly fuels, especially in maritime shipping. Germany should play a pioneering role in research and development. This is a growth market of the future,’ says the Transport Minister. ‘It’s also about making our country independent of energy imports. “Mannheim 001” shows how economic efficiency and climate protection can go hand in hand. This project can set an example for many other locations in Germany and Europe.’
‘The new plant impressively demonstrates how research and entrepreneurial spirit can produce practical solutions for the sustainable transformation of our economy,’ adds Professor Thomas Hirth, Vice President Transfer and International Affairs at KIT. ‘Here, a valuable material is obtained from biogas produced during wastewater treatment – an innovative approach that shows how existing resources can be utilised intelligently and in a climate-friendly way.’
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Innovative process utilises biogas
The “Mannheim 001” demonstration plant utilises a patented process to convert biogas from wastewater into climate-neutral methanol. The biogas produced in the sewage treatment plant is first purified. The CO₂ it contains then reacts with regeneratively produced hydrogen to produce methanol – a versatile raw material that can be used as a marine fuel or in the chemical industry.
‘With our technology, we extract a high-quality energy source from an existing source,’ explains Dr Vidal Vazquez, co-founder of ICODOS. ‘In Germany alone, wastewater treatment plants could produce several million tonnes of sustainable methanol every year.’
Thanks to its compact and scalable design, the process is particularly suitable for decentralised implementation. Vazquez: ‘The current project shows that wastewater treatment plants can serve as the centrepiece of sustainable fuel production – a potential that has so far remained untapped.’
ICODOS is already in dialogue with other wastewater treatment plants with a view to setting up production facilities there too.
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ICODOS
ICODOS GmbH is a climate-tech start-up based in Mannheim. Originating from a research project at KIT, the company specialises in producing sustainable fuels and chemicals from renewable sources such as biogas and CO2 in combination with renewable electricity. The aim of ICODOS is to make an economically viable contribution to climate protection with the help of process technology and modular systems. (mhe)
Picture: ICODOS, a KIT spin-off, develops fully integrated, fully automated and dynamically operated e-methanol plants (photo by KIT).
