energies

Review
Quantitative Design of a New e-Methanol Production Process
Alfred Rufer

School of Engineering, EPFL Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland;
alfred.rufer@epfl.ch; Tel.: +41-79-244-09-84

Abstract: In the context of the need to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from personal
transportation, a new process for the production of e-methanol is presented. It is a CO2 hydrogenation
process, powered mainly by renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic electricity, with direct
capture of carbon dioxide from the ambient air. With the main objective of estimating the feasibility
and the impact of such a large-scale plant, the various components are evaluated in terms of masses
and quantities necessary for an annual fuel production of 500,000 tons. The main reactor is analyzed to
assess the required quantities of hydrogen and CO2 . The production of hydrogen from the electrolysis
of water is estimated, as well as the electrical power required and supplied by a large photovoltaic
plant. The size of a realistic plant and its footprint are estimated. In addition, the mass of seawater
to be desalinized and split in the electrolyser is calculated. The CO2 capture system is evaluated
in the form of the mass of air to be extracted from the ambient air. The parameters of the system
and its subcomponents are summarized for ease of understanding of the significance and size of the
processing plant.

Keywords: methanol; e-methanol; production process; quantitative design; hydrogen; electrolysis;

CO2 capture

Citation: Rufer, A. Quantitative 1. Introduction

Design of a New e-Methanol
In the context of climate change and global warming, humanity has today recognized
Production Process. Energies 2022, 15,
that its greenhouse gas emissions must be urgently and drastically reduced. CO2 is one of
9309. https://doi.org/10.3390/
the most important components being significantly produced by the transportation system
en15249309
worldwide. Personal transportation by cars is today considered an important element for
Academic Editors: Attila Bai, the reduction or cancellation of a significant part of all CO2 emissions.
Zoltán Gabnai and Tamás Mizik In addition to the well-known contribution of electrical vehicles (EVs), whose most
Received: 17 November 2022
important disadvantages are the limited autonomy and the poor capacity to be rapidly
Accepted: 5 December 2022
recharged, other alternatives can be seen in the recently proposed fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs)
Published: 8 December 2022
supplied by hydrogen pressurized in a specific reservoir [1,2]. These vehicles have the
advantage of their rapid refueling capacity, and the production of hydrogen is currently
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral
receiving innovative approaches [3–5]. However, FCVs must be placed in the category of
with regard to jurisdictional claims in
“low efficiency chain” vehicles. The supply chain consists of a water electrolysis system
published maps and institutional affil-
followed by a pressurization step, and then a vehicle’s internal fuel cell supplying the
iations.
electric propulsion train. Such a chain represents a cascade of successive transformations
with individual low efficiency, leading to a severely debatable result.
Another way of reducing CO2 emissions can be found in using alternative renew-
Copyright: © 2022 by the author.
able fuels for conventional vehicles moved by internal combustion engines (ICEs). Such
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. solutions include most often so-called biofuels or biogases, with the added advantage of
This article is an open access article maintaining a nearly unchanged infrastructure in the vehicles and the distribution of the
distributed under the terms and carburants [6]. Similarly, a propulsion system for cars based on sustainable methanol or
conditions of the Creative Commons green methanol (e-methanol) has been proposed [7–9]. This e-methanol system is based
Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// on hydrogen and CO2 combination, where hydrogen is produced by water electrolysis
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ powered by photovoltaic electricity, and CO2 is captured from the ambient air. Compared
4.0/). to conventional fuels, renewable methanol reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95%,

Energies 2022, 15, 9309. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15249309 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies

Energies 2022, 15, 9309 2 of 14

reduces nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by up to 80%, and completely eliminates sulfur
oxide (SOx) emissions and emissions of particulate matter. However, in addition to these
advantages, the use of ICEs for vehicle propulsion has the disadvantage of presenting
a very low energy efficiency between the tank and the wheels.
This paper discusses the different amounts of resources and reactants needed in
the production process of e-methanol, starting from the equivalent surface area of a PV
plant needed for the water electrolysis producing H2 to the quantities required in the
methanol reactor, and including the indispensable infrastructure for the capture of the
low content of CO2 from the ambient air. The main motivation of the study is at the level
of highlighting the quantitative aspects and limitations related to a process that basically
has all the advantages required to be chosen as a sustainable solution without greenhouse
gas emissions.

2. The Components of the e-Methanol Production Process

The main components of the considered e-methanol production process are repre-
sented in Figure 1. The output variable me-meth on the right side of the figure corresponds to
the annual production of e-methanol in mass. This is the output of the process reactor. The
input quantities of the reactor are hydrogen and CO2 . CO2 is captured from the ambient
air, and the hydrogen is produced by the electrolyser, which further produces oxygen. The
electric power feeding the electrolyser is obtained from a large photovoltaic plant. The
necessary surface area of this plant is indicated as APV and will be estimated on the basis
of the parameters obtained from an already operating large PV plant of several hundreds
of MW of power.
O2 Airin Airout
mair
mO2

PV
CO2 mCO2
EPV Electrolysis
e-methanol
Reactor
H2 me-meth
mH2
APV H2O

Pump/
desal.

Sea water Sea water

3.5% salt 8% salt

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the e-methanol production process.

The electrolyser receives a given amount of desalinized water from the sea. The
salinity of the pumped water is 3.5%, and the salinity of the discharged water is 8%.
Near the represented main sub-components, which are used for the main conver-
sions and electrochemical transformations, several auxiliary devices, and additional sub-
processes are used to complete the system. Between the PV plant and the electrolyser,
diverse power electronic converters and transformers are needed. Especially in the case
of a very large PV arrangement, the problem of transporting electrical power over long
distances in the order of magnitude of tens of kilometers with an acceptable efficiency
demands a dedicated collection network where medium-voltage DC systems or medium-
or high-voltage AC systems must be used [10,11].
At the output of the electrolyser, the hydrogen generated must be conditioned and
stored due to the day/night intermittency of sun irradiation when the CO2 hydrogenation
process is run 24 h per day. Hydrogen storage can be realized in different forms, com-
Energies 2022, 15, 9309 3 of 14

pression in pressurized vessels being the easiest to implement and showing an acceptable
efficiency [12].
Similar auxiliary conditioning equipment is used at the output of the CO2 capture
system, for the real operation of the reactor, or within the seawater desalination system.
In a general way, the mass transfer conditions are not considered in this study; nor is the
energy demand of auxiliary devices such as water pumps, gas compressors, cooling devices,
active heat exchangers, or other conditioning equipment.

3. Hydrogenation of CO2 (Synthesis of Methanol)

For the synthesis of methanol, different processes have been proposed based on the
use of copper/zinc oxide-based catalysts [13,14]. For the evaluation of the quantities of
reactants involved, the process can be described through the three individual reactions
illustrated in Table 1.

Table 1. Reactions involved in the hydrogenation of CO2 into CH3 OH.

No. Reaction ∆rx H298 K [kJ/mol]

1 CO2 + 3H2 ↔ CH3 OH+ H2 O −49.51
2 CO2 + H2 ↔ CO + H2 O 41.17
3 CO + 2H2 ↔ CH3 OH −90.68

Reaction (1) summarizes the reaction of CO2 with hydrogen for the production of
methanol and water. It is accompanied by Reaction (2) as a secondary reaction, the reaction
of the gas with water in the reverse sense (RWGS), which consumes the same reactants,
but which is not desired in the process (the hydrogenation of CO2 into CH3 OH). The
production of CO through RWGS leads to the appearance of an additional path for the
synthesis of methanol: by hydrogenation of CO (Reaction (3)). Reaction (1) and Reaction (3)
are exothermic, whereas RWGS is endothermic.
Reaction (1) can be rewritten in terms of the different atomic masses of the involved
chemical species
CO2 + 3H2 ↔ CH3 OH + H2 O (1)
as
12 + 2 × 16 + 3 × 2 ↔ 12 + 3 + 16 + 1 + 2 + 16 (2)
or
44 + 6 ↔ 32 + 18 (3)
Related to the masses of matter involved in the process, namely mH2 for the mass of
hydrogen, mCO2 for the carbon dioxide, and mH2O for the produced mass of water the fol-
lowing relations can be written in dependency of the produced mass of methanol mCH3OH

6
mH2 = · mCH3 OH (4)
32
44
mCO2 = · mCH3 OH (5)
32
18
mH2O = · mCH3 OH (6)
32

4. Quantitative Design
The main goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of a methanol synthesis plant
as described in Figure 1, under nearly realistic quantitative conditions. An assumption is
made that 500,000 tons of methanol should be produced per year. This value corresponds
approximately to the annual fuel consumption of 300,000 cars, each car consuming 10 L per
Energies 2022, 15, 9309 4 of 14

100 km and driving 20,000 km per year, based on an ICE engine needing around 1.5 times
the consumption of classic fuel. The density of methanol is 0.83.
The indicated number of cars that could be supplied from a methanol plant of
500,000 tons should be compared with the real number of cars circulating in a region.
For example, Switzerland has more than 4 million cars; while in Germany, the total number
of passenger vehicles registered for use on public roads has increased to over 48.5 million
in 2022. In such a context, a conversion to e-methanol of the whole German car fleet would
need more than 160 times the described infrastructure.
Thus, introducing the value of 500,000 t of methanol in Equations (4) and (5), the
following amounts of hydrogen mH2 and CO2 mCO2 are needed:

6
mH2 = · 500000t = 93750t (7)
32
44
mCO2 = · 500000t = 687500t (8)
32
According to Equation (6), the reactor produces a mass of water mH2O

18
mH2O = · 500000t = 281250t (9)
32
Following the analysis of the hydrogenation process regarding the different amounts
of reactants and output quantities as described in Table 1, the energetic balance can also
be evaluated, in the sense of the produced heat due to the exothermic nature of the main
reaction. For Reaction (1), the CO2 reaction which produces methanol and water, the
released thermal energy is given as 49.5 kJ/mol.
The number of moles of methanol generated is calculated with the value of its molar
mass (M (CH3 OH) = 32.04 g/mol); thus, the number of moles becomes:

N (CH3 OH) = 500 × 109 g/(32.04 g/mol) = 15.6 × 109 mol

The released thermal energy during the reaction for the 500,000 tons of methanol becomes:

Eth_react = 15.6 · 109 mol · 49.5kJ/mol = 773 · 109 kJ

or
773 · 109 kJ/(3600s/h) = 214.6 · 103 MWh
For this energy, which is dissipated over one year, if the reactor is run 24 h a day, the
instantaneous power becomes:

Pth_react = 214.6 · 103 MWh/(24 · 365) = 24.5MW

This power must be continuously evacuated from the reactor, requiring auxiliary
equipment. It could be reused elsewhere in the process, for example, for a specific type
of electrolyzer based on high-temperature steam electrolysis [12,15]. Otherwise, the heat
must be discharged, most probably in a water body. This adds to the complexity of the
implementation of the facility and its negative impact on the local environment.
The next sections will be dedicated to the evaluation of the needed infrastructure, from
the photovoltaic plant to the CO2 capture system and to the needed amount of seawater to
be desalinized.

4.1. Hydrogen from Water Electrolysis

The production of hydrogen from water electrolysis is shown in Figure 2. The amount
of hydrogen to be produced annually is defined in Equation (7). This section calculates
the electrical energy to be provided for the electrolysis on the base of the efficiency of the
Energies 2022, 15, 9309 5 of 14

electrochemical converter. This efficiency is defined as the ratio of the heat value of the
produced hydrogen EH2 to the electrical energy fed to the electrolyser.

EH2 = 33 · 103 Wh/kg · 93750 t = 33MWh/t · 93750 t = 3.1 · 106 MWh (10)

O2

EPV
_

+
A C H2

H+

H2O

Figure 2. Hydrogen production from water electrolysis.

The needed electric power feeding the electrolyser is calculated with its energy efficiency:
=   =  = 
ηelectrolyser = 0.6

3.1 · 106 MWh

Eelectric = = 5.16 · 106 MWh (11)
0.6
 =
This amount corresponds to an optimistic value calculated with an ideal value of the
efficiency and does not consider any need for power for pressurization or purification of
the hydrogen [11]. 
=
This electric power can be produced = photovoltaic
by a large  plant, the surface area of
which is calculated on the basis of the example of the Agua Caliente PV plant (Arizona) [16].
This plant has an area of 971 ha and produces an annual net output of 727 GWh. The annual
production per ha of this real plant is then:

727GWh
Yprodha = = 748MWh/ha (12)
971ha
Thus, the surface area of the PV plant in Figure 1 for a production of 500,000 t of
methanol becomes:
5.16 · 106 MWh
A PV = h = 6891ha (13)
= 748MWh/ha =
Knowing that 1 km2 = 106 m2 and 1 ha = 104 m2 , 1 ha = 104 /106 km2 = 10−2 km2 .
The needed surface area is finally calculated as:

A PV = 68.91km2

Following the reflection made=in Section 4 on the =
impact of an infrastructure dedicated
to the hypothetic conversion of the whole German car fleet, the needed surface area of the
photovoltaic plant would become:

A PV ( D) = 160 · 68.91km2 = 11025km2

This surface area corresponds to a square with an edge of 105 km. A comparative
representation of this surface area (blue square) is given in Figure 3.
 =  =
Energies 2022, 15, 9309 6 of 14

Figure 3. Comparison of the needed surface area of the PV plant for feeding the German car fleet
to e-methanol.

The required power for the PV plant shown in Figure 1 is calculated based on a possible
daily production of 6.8 h/day according to the average of daily hours from the Agua
Caliente plant, which has a rated power of 290 MW

727GWh
=
YearHours AguaCaliente = ==2506h
290MW
2506h
DayHours AguaCaliente = = 6.86h
= 365 =
The needed power of the methanol plant electrolyzer becomes:

5.16 · 106 MWh

PPV = = 2078MW (14)
 · 365
6.8h
= =
The power to supply the hypothetical plant for the conversion of the German car
fleet becomes:
PPV ( D) = 160 · 2078MW = 332480MW or 332.4GW
As In addition to the needed surface area required for the power of the photovoltaic
plants, the question of a =  integration
possible = in this country is addressed. Recent evalu-
ations indicate a large and, currently, underestimated, potential in the sector of building
envelopes [17]. According to [18], roofs and facades could offer a technical potential in
the order of 1000 GW. In that study, only surfaces that receive at least 500 kWh/(m2 a)
of irradiation were considered. PV modules can not only be mounted on existing flat or
pitched roofs, but products for building integration (BIPV, “Building-integrated PV”) are
also commercially available. These include PV roof tiles, PV roof sheets, modules for cold
facades, external thermal insulation composite systems (ETICS) with PV, and opaque and
transparent PV insulating glass.
As an alternative, desert regions could be considered. However, their water supply, as
well as the transportation of the produced methanol to the users, raises another series of
questions to which there are currently no answers.
 ”

Energies 2022, 15, 9309 7 of 14

4.2. Hydrogen/Oxygen Production and Water Consumed

The electrolyzer produces simultaneously the required hydrogen and an additional
amount of oxygen, which is calculated on the basis of the atomic masses of the reactants in
the water equation:
2H2 O →→ 2H2 + O +2 (15)
The relation with the corresponding mass units can be written as:
2(2 1 + 16) → 2  2 + 2 16
(16)
Water Hydrogen
One can so define the two mass unit ratios as:
One can so define the two mass unit ratios as:
32
KmO2/mH2 = = = =
8 (17)
4
36
KmH2 O/mH2 = = = =
9 (18)
4
From Equations (7) and (17) the corresponding mass of oxygen produced by the
electrolyzer is calculated as:

mO2 = 8 · 93750t = 750000 t (19)

=  =
From Equations (7) and (18) the corresponding mass of water needed is calculated as:

mH2 O = 9 · 93750 t = 843750 t (20)

= 
4.3. Feeding the Electrolyzer with Water
=
Equation (20) gives a value of 843,750 tons for the water needed by the electrolyser.
This large amount is obtained from two sources, one is water fed back from the output of
the methanol reactor, amounting to a mass of 281,250 tons, as was calculated in Equation (9);
the other is water is pumped from the sea and must be desalinized before use.
Desalination technologies are generally classified as either thermal or membrane-based
technologies. Although membrane-based technologies, particularly reverse osmosis (RO),
constitute the majority of installed desalination capacity worldwide, thermal desalination
remains the dominant technology in the regions where desalination has been used for many
years (the Middle East). The two main thermal desalination technologies used are multiple
evaporative distillation (MED) and multistage flash (MSF). However, the bulk of newly
installed desalination capacity around the world runs on reverse osmosis membranes,
which are not only more energy efficient than thermal desalination processes but also offer
modularity and ease of installation [19,20]. In the design of the process described in this
study, the reverse osmosis technique is retained, even though the discharge of water with
a high salt content can locally create additional nuisances.
The amount of desalinized seawater becomes:

mH2 Odes = 843750 t − 281250t = 562500t (21)

One can suppose the salinity of the pumped water to be 3.5% and the discharged
water to be 8%. With the definitions of the pumped water amount mp and the discharged
water amount mr , the condition that all salt of the pumped water is returned through the
discharged mass to the sea can be written as:

msalt = m p · 0.035 = mr · 0.08 (22)

Energies 2022, 15, 9309 8 of 14

A second relation specifies that the difference between the desalinized pumped water
and the discharged water corresponds to the amount of water fed to the electrolyser

m p · (1 − 0.035) − mr · (1 − 0.08) = mH2O_dess (23)

Combining the two relations, the mass of pumped sea water becomes:
mH2O_dess
mp = (24)
1 − 0.035
0.08 + 0.035

The amount of discharged water is calculated from Equation (22) as:

0.035
mr = m p (25)
0.08
Numerically, mp = 941,422 t and mr = 411,872 t.

4.4. CO2 Capture from the Ambient Air

Direct air capture (DAC) of CO2 from the ambient air has become an important subject
in scientific investigation and experimental engineering [21]. DAC is currently categorized
as being at “technology readiness level” 6 (on a scale of 1 to 9), meaning it is still in the large-
scale and prototype phase and not yet ready for full commercial deployment. However,
this also means that there is ample opportunity to improve performance and reduce costs
through learning from early iterations of the technology [21].
In the context of the present investigations regarding the quantitative impacts on used
materials, process quantities, and involved industrial equipment, one important question
is the amount of air that needs to be taken from the surroundings from which the needed
amount of CO2 is extracted, especially considering the low concentration of CO2 in the air
of 414 ppm or 414 g/t.

687500 t
Mass_air = = 1.66 · 109 t (26)
0.000414 t/t
This mass should be increased as the full content of CO2 is not extracted in the process.
Considering a yield of 80%, the final mass of air becomes:

1.66 · 109 t
Mass_air_ f inal = = 2.08 · 109 t (27)
0.8
The CO2 extraction can be run all day, all year round, leading to a flow of air of:

2.08 · 109 t
Air_ f low = = 237560 t/h (28)
365 · 24 h
or
237560 t/h
Air_ f low = = 65.9 t/s (29)
3600 s/h
With a density of air of 1.3 kg/m3 :

65900 kg/s
Air_ f low_vol = = 50760 m3 /s (30)
1.3 kg/m3

The needed pressure of the air pushed through the CO2 extractor is not known, but
a rough evaluation of a fan system is made: a fan of 100,000 m3 /h is considered, which has
a diameter of 1250 mm and consumes 30 kW (Figure 4).
 = =
= =

Energies 2022, 15, 9309 9 of 14

Figure 4. Example of a large fan.

Figure 4. Example of a large fan.

The airflow of the fan (100,000 m3 /h) corresponds to 27 m3 /s; thus, the number of
fans required becomes:
= =
Number_o f _ f ans = = =
50760 m3 /s
= 1880fans (31)
27 m3 /s
These fans could be arranged in around 43 columns of 43 rows according to Figure 5.

53.75 m

Figure 5. Arrangement of the fans.

The diameter of one fan being 1250 mm, the square area becomes:

43 × 1.259 m = 53.75 m (32)

Another parameter of the fan arrangement is the velocity of the air blown. In one fan,
 π × D2 /4 becomes:
the airflow of 100,000 m3 /h in an area of

27 m3 /s 27 m3 /s
V_air = 2
= = 22m/s (33)
π · (1.250m) /4 1.227m2

4.4.1. Verification of the Airspeed in the Fans

This calculation tries to verify the previous result for the velocity of the air in the fans.
The parameters of the fan are given in Table 2, and the model adopted for the calculation is
shown in Figure 6.
 = = =


Energies 2022, 15, 9309 10 of 14

Table 2. Parameters of the fan.

External radius re 0.625 m

Internal radius r 0.125 m
Rotational speed 1500 RPM
Pitch angle of the blades α 

vtg
vair
w
rmean
ri
re

Modeland
Figure 6. Model andparameters
parametersofofthe
thefan’s
fan’sblades.
blades

For the calculation of the air velocity, an average rotation radius of the blades is considered:

r e − ri r e + ri 0.625m + 0.125m
rmean = ri + − = + = 25 2+ = 0.375m (34)
= + 2 = 2 = =
For the angular velocity:

ω = 2π · f = 2π · Ω/60 = 2π · 25 = 157rad/s (35)

w =   =   = 2  =
The tangential speed becomes:

Vtg = =
ωw· rmean ==157rad/s ·s0.375m
0 = 58m/s
= (36)

And the air velocity is:

58m/s
Vair = =Vtg / tan(90 −−α)= = 58 = =
21.4m/s (37)
2.74
The pitch angle of the blades is chosen as α = 20◦ at the equivalent radius of 0.375 m.

This verifies the plausibility of the previously calculated air velocity (33).

4.4.2. Power Consumed by the Blowers

The power needed by the blowers is calculated as:

P_ f ans = 1880 · 30kW = 56400kW = 56.4MW (38)

4.5. Efficiency Considerations

The process of production of e-methanol can be characterized by equivalent energy
efficiency. The goal of such an evaluation is to be able to compare two different alternative
solutions for future automotive systems, the first being the use of green e-methanol in
a conventional ICE (Internal Combustion Engine)-driven vehicle, while the second is an EV
 =  = =

Energies 2022, 15, 9309 11 of 14

(Electrical Vehicle) powered by a battery when this battery is recharged from the same
renewable source (PV).

4.5.1. Efficiency of e-Methanol Production and Use

The efficiency of e-methanol production based on a renewable source is here defined
as the ratio of the heat value of the produced fuel divided by the renewable energy fed
into the process. Two components for the energy input are considered in this evaluation,
the electric energy fed to the electrolyzer (5.16 × 106 MWh from Equation (11)) and the
needed power for the CO2 capture (56.4 MW from Equation (38), the corresponding energy
of which is:
E_fans = 56.4 MW × 24 h × 365 = 494,064 MWh (39)
The sum of the provided renewable energy from the PV becomes:

E_PV = 0.494 × 106 MWh + 5.6 × 106 MWh = 6.094 × 106 MWh (40)

The heat value of the 500,000 tons of e-methanol is calculated as:

E_meth = 500,000,000 × 22.7 MJ/kg = 1.13 × 1010 MJ

Or:
1.13 × 1010 MJ/3600 = 3.152 × 106 MWh (41)
Finally, the efficiency of e-methanol production can be given as:

ηemeth_PV = 3.152 × 106 MWh/6.094 × 106 MWh = 0.517 (42)


In Figure 7, the whole chain of e-methanol production and use is presented. In this
presentation, the efficiency of the propulsion system based on the ICE engine (tank-to-
wheels) is given as 0.15. The cascade of the fuel production efficiency (0.51) and the
propulsion gives an extremely low value of 0.077.

O2 Airin Airout
mair
mO2

PV
CO2 e-methanol
EPV Electrolysis
Reactor
H2
mH2
H2O
ICE
APV

Pump/
desal.

En_ann_wheels
Sea water Sea water
3.5% salt 8% salt

=0.51 =0.15

=0.077 (7.7% !!!)

Figure 7. Efficiency of the e-methanol-powered ICE vehicle.

4.5.2. Efficiency of an Electric Vehicle Powered from PV

Figure 8 shows the complete chain of an EV powered from photovoltaic panels. The
indicated value of the efficiency of the power train (η = 0.72) corresponds to the cascade
of an electric motor (η = 0.9) and a power electronic converter (η = 0.95) and with 8%
standby/idle losses and 6% additional losses for the driveline and auxiliaries.
 
 
Energies 2022, 15, 9309 12 of 14

=95%

=68.4%
Figure 8. Efficiency of a PV-powered EV (Electric Vehicle).

The resultant efficiency becomes 68.4% if the battery is charged via a power electronic
charger of 95% efficiency.

5. Summary of the Design Parameters

The e-methanol production process as described in this paper corresponds to a very
large industrial production site, involving huge quantities of the different reactants in-
volved. The characteristic parameters of the main process as well as the parameters of the
subcomponents are summarized in Table 3.

Table 3. Summary of the system parameters.

Main process
e-Methanol production per year 500,000 tons
Hydrogen (from electrolysis) 93,750 tons
CO2 captured from ambient air 687,500 tons
H2 O from the reactor 281,250 tons
Electrolysis
Hydrogen 93,750 tons
Oxygen 750,000 tons
Water (desalinized) 843,750 tons
PV plant MWh
Ground surface 68.9 km2
PV power 2078 MW
Energy produced (yearly) 5.16 × 106 MWh
Water (sea)
Pumped water (3.5% salt) 941,422 tons
Discharged water (8% salt) 411,872 tons
CO2 capture
Mass of air needed (80% yield in capture) 2.08 × 109 tons
Nb of fans (100,000 m3 /h type) 1880 units
Power of the fan system 56.4 MW

6. Conclusions
An industrial e-methanol production process has been described and the quantitative
design of the main process and its subcomponents has been calculated. A realistic design
of the components has been made on the basis of an annual production of 500,000 tons of
synthetic fuel. Huge amounts of reactants for the process are needed, and also the ground
Energies 2022, 15, 9309 13 of 14

surface area for the PV plant feeding the electrolyser has been evaluated on the basis of
the experienced productivity of a large reference plant in Arizona. The obtained results
together with a comparison of the needed quantities in relation to a hypothetical conver-
sion of the actually circulating cars in different countries show the difficulty of realizing
a substitution at a large scale of conventional fossil fuels by synthetic ones produced with
renewable sources.
A further assessment has been made by comparing the whole well-to-wheel efficiency
of an e-methanol-powered conventional vehicle and an EV-powered from photovoltaics.
The e-methanol fuel could in this sense only become a limited sectorial contribution
to the world decarbonization process of transportation, in combination with several other
CO2 -free solutions. Quantitative limitations within the realization of the other solutions
according to the obtained results in this evaluation would lead to a forced reduction of the
number of cars circulating.

Funding: This research received no external funding.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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