M2X Energy to capture flare gas for methanol production
Published by Bella Weetch,
Editorial Assistant
Hydrocarbon Engineering,
M2X Energy, a company building a scalable methane conversion technology, is emerging under the leadership of new CEO, Max Pieri, and preparing for the field demonstration of its commercial-scale, modular gas-to-methanol plant this quarter.
The company was born on the idea that as long as oil and gas are a part of the energy mix, it is critical to lower the industry’s environmental impact. Specifically, eliminating flare gas and venting is an urgent climate task. The IEA estimates that natural gas flaring resulted in over 140 billion m3 of natural gas going to waste in 2021, which, in addition to the direct 270 million t of carbon dioxide (CO2) and 8 million t of methane emissions each year, creates energy insecurity, as those volumes could be employed to satisfy the existing demand for natural gas. M2X Energy will help solve both problems: first, by capturing 100% of methane emissions, and then transforming the gas into low-carbon methanol.
Founded by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) in 2020, based on the dissertation work of Co-Founder and CTO, Josh Browne, M2X raised US$20 million in Series A funding in late 2021. The raise was led by BEV and joined by Eni Next, Add Ventures by SCG, and Autodesk Foundation.
While using flare gas to make fuels or chemicals is not new, M2X’s key innovation solves the issues that have kept gas-to-liquids systems from being effective solutions in the field. By leveraging 120 years of engineering and a tried-and-true piece of equipment – the internal combustion engine – M2X is building gas to methanol plants that are modular, scalable, and run autonomously in the field. M2X’s units can be numbered up or down to adapt to the flare gas site, can handle the intermittency often found with flare gas, as well as run on a wide range of gas compositions.
“Reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is critically important because methane has such a large climate impact in the short-term,” said Carmichael Roberts, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “BEV-incubated M2X is well-positioned to tackle this industry challenge. Their technology will help oil and gas companies reduce flare gas emissions at the wellhead, while also uniquely creating value via clean methanol production.”
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/clean-fuels/13012023/m2x-energy-to-capture-flare-gas-for-methanol-production/
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