Emvolon Hits Several Milestones with Gas Offtake, Licensing Agreements

Following Emvolon’s field pilot with Montauk Renewables to demonstrate the conversion of biogas into green methanol, the company obtained several commercial and technical partnerships with:

• Biogas suppliers
• Green methanol product offtakers
• International equipment and technology companies

Also, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) finalized its licensing contract with Emvolon, which protects its proprietary technology and supports the company’s research on chemical decarbonization. These partnerships will eliminate greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 90,000 cars per year, produce more than 175,000 tons of green methanol annually, and deliver over $175 million in yearly revenue.

“According to the EIA and EPA, more than 1,000 billion cubic feet of methane gas per year is emitted into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas, because historically, there’s been no way to economically utilize that waste stream,” said Emmanuel Kasseris, co-founder and CEO of Emvolon. “Emvolon can directly address the harmful emissions and wasted resources of methane coming from landfills, water treatment plants, farms and industrial operations. Our modular units reduce the cost of converting waste into sustainable resources, offering the ability to generate up to $27 billion in green fuel sales while eliminating 1.2 gigatons of CO₂ emissions.”

Green Methanol Offtake

• Oberon Fuels will purchase Emvolon’s green methanol for five years.
• SAFE Bulkers entered a green methanol supply for two alternatively fueled marine vessels.

Equipment & Technology Partners

• Clariant will collaborate with Emvolon to develop and test a green methanol catalyst.
• Waukesha will partner on engine development.

Biogas Suppliers & Developers

• Montauk Renewables and Emvolon will demonstrate the commercial advantages of converting biogas into green methanol, with a goal to upscale production at various future sites.
• The Indian Biogas Association will use the company’s waste gas-to-green methanol production technology for multiple projects.

DOE Grant & Emvolon’s Work

In July, the Department of Energy (DOE) granted Emvolon $2.3 million to develop a modular, scalable system that can adapt to renewable energy sources like wind and solar. The DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy will manage the project through the GREENWELLS program and, so far, Emvolon raised $10.5 million with investment support from Engine Ventures, Dorian LPG, LDVP Partners, MassVentures, and Vista Energy.

Integrated laboratory system with production engine; image credit: Emvolon

Emvolon gathers and converts wasted onsite methane gases into ready-to-use and transportable liquid green chemicals and fuels. The company’s technology platform converts biogas into liquid green methanol through repurposed car engines that serve as low-cost modular chemical plants. The methanol can then be transported in traditional truck containers with cost-efficiency and without additional pipeline infrastructure.

MIT Partners with Concepts NREC

Concepts NREC and MIT are collaborating to implement turbomachinery design, engineering, and analysis software tools into a new course titled “Advanced Manufacturing for Aerospace Engineers”, scheduled to debut fall 2024. The course is designed and will be taught by Dr. Zachary Cordero and Dr. Zoltán Spakovsky—it is a project-based subject that requires students to design, build, and test an electric turbopump for a notional rocket engine.

AEDS and ARMD software tools will be used by instructors and students to design and develop components of a single-spool dual-impeller turbopump for assembly into a fully functional device. Through the labs’ iterative approach, students will apply concepts, principles, and processes with Concepts NREC’s software modeling tools, developing a complex, high-quality design with increased performance and precise modeling.