National oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc is considering building a green methanol production facility at an estimated cost of 3.1 billion baht to support its plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and produce methanol-derived fuels.
Methanol is traditionally produced from fossil fuels, but this method uses biomass or a carbon capture technique to produce green methanol.
The company asked ThyssenKrupp Uhde, a unit of German industrial engineering and steel conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG, to conduct a feasibility study for the green methanol project.
The study on the front-end engineering design, which was concluded last week, paves the way for PTT to consider whether it will develop commercial production of green methanol, said Buranin Rattanasombat, chief of new business and infrastructure at PTT.
According to the findings, the company can produce 100,000 tonnes of green methanol a year from a process used to capture carbon dioxide.
The capacity could increase to more than 2 million tonnes per year, he said.
Electricity to operate the green methanol factory would come from renewable energy.
Thailand imports up to 700,000 tonnes of fossil-derived methanol a year from the Middle East, mainly for use in the solvent and coating industries.
PTT is interested in the green methanol technology of ThyssenKrupp Uhde, which specialises in green technology.
Further consideration of the project is required because green methanol production is more expensive than producing methanol from natural gas, said Mr Buranin.
"We may need an investment incentive package if we want to develop a commercial scale of green methanol manufacturing," he said.
Methanol is used to produce chemicals for a variety of industries including automotive, electronics, building materials and pharmaceuticals.
Green methanol can be used to produce biofuel for aircraft, said Mr Buranin.
This could have business potential because demand for biofuel in the aviation industry is expected to soar to 364 million tonnes a year in 2025, up from 215 million tonnes in 2020, he said, citing a study released by the World Economic Forum.
Demand is expected to increase to 407 million tonnes in 2030.
PTT and its subsidiaries have various initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions.
These efforts include the suspension of coal usage and the adoption of carbon capture technology in its oil and gas exploration and production business.
The company plans to increase electricity generation capacity from renewable resources to 15 gigawatts, up from 5GW at present.
PTT has set a goal to reduce CO2 emissions by 15% within 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality, a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption, by 2040.
The company aims to reach a net-zero target, a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption, within 2050.