Carbon dioxide to methanol using geothermal power

MIT Technology Review : To be economically viable, the conversion of carbon dioxide into liquid methanol—an alternative to fossil fuels—requires a combination of cheap electricity to power the process and an ample source of carbon dioxide. Iceland has both, with electricity available for industrial use at one-third the price charged in the US and geothermal power plants that emit easy-to-purify streams of carbon dioxide. For those reasons, it has become home to the first potentially profitable commercial CO₂-to-methanol conversion plant. Built by Carbon Recycling International, the plant is adjacent to a geothermal plant that provides both the electricity and the CO₂. The methanol plant uses electricity to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen atoms and then combines the hydrogen with CO₂ to form methanol. According to K-C Tran, the company’s CEO, the 5-million-liter plant will likely become profitable within the next year. The process could also be adapted for the production of other fuels, such as propanol.