Behind The Publication: A feasible methanol economy for a green future

Abhinandan Nabera and Hidde Kolmeijer discussing the results of the team's methanol economy study.
In a recent publication, NCCR Catalysis researchers highlight methanol’s potential to transform the economy towards a cleaner, more sustainable future. Learn more about the work in this Behind The Publication feature!

What is the methanol economy, and what is the motivation of this work?
The methanol economy, first proposed by Nobel laureate George Olah, envisions using methanol as a clean and versatile alternative to fossil feedstocks such as gasoline, natural gas, and naphtha, which are used today to produce fuels and chemicals. Methanol can not only power vehicles, ships, and planes, but also serve as a key building block for producing a wide range of chemicals. Crucially, it can be synthesized from renewable sources such as biomass, biogas, or even captured CO₂ from the air. This NCCR Catalysis study expands on Olah’s vision by providing the first quantitative assessment of a methanol‑based economy by 2050, identifying the most effective pathways to realize it. The goal is to clarify the true environmental and economic potential of methanol as a foundation for a sustainable society.

Overview of the proposed methanol economy. Methanol produced from fossil or renewable sources can be used across several sectors. It serves as a chemical feedstock and as a fuel for road transport and shipping, and can also be converted into jet fuel through the methanol-to-kerosene process for use in aviation.
Which was the main challenge? How did you address it?
The main challenge was to move beyond the community’s qualitative optimism about the methanol economy and develop a rigorous, quantitative assessment under realistic future conditions spanning entire sectors of the economy, such as fuels for transport and chemicals. Achieving this required several years of work, as we integrated previously developed partial models into a comprehensive 2050 framework that links methanol production and use pathways with prospective life-cycle assessment and techno‑economic analyses. This allowed us to evaluate numerous configurations, consider different renewable carbon sources, account for the limited availability of bio‑based feedstocks, and compare all options on a consistent basis.

What are the study’s main results and take-home messages?
The formal aspects of the analysis may be complex, but the results are clear. A methanol economy could significantly cut global greenhouse gas emissions while remaining broadly affordable by 2050. Specifically, producing methanol from biomass and biogas can reach net‑zero or even negative emissions, though these resources alone are insufficient to meet the projected methanol demand. By combining these bio‑based routes with CO₂ hydrogenation technologies, a fully renewable pathway emerges; one capable of net‑zero emissions at an estimated cost of about US$ 32 per person per month. This is comparable to other 2°C scenarios under the Paris Agreement, or, put more simply, to the price of a subscription to a good-quality streaming service. We could also identify the order in which implementation would be more beneficial: rapid adoption in road transport and chemicals, followed by aviation and shipping. One key takeaway is the importance of continued investment in CO₂ hydrogenation technologies to ensure they reach commercial maturity.

Key findings of the evaluated methanol economy scenarios. The analysis identifies two viable pathways, both reliant on biomass and biogas feedstocks due to their comparatively low costs and substantial CO₂ emission reductions. In the bio + CO₂ scenario, the methanol economy achieves net-zero emissions at an estimated cost of US$ 32 per capita per month. Alternatively, a fossil-based pathway remains feasible at approximately half the cost, albeit with higher residual emissions.

What makes this work particularly relevant for NCCR Catalysis and the research community?
The study demonstrates that CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol is essential to overcoming the limited supply of sustainable biomass and biogas, enabling a fully renewable methanol economy with net‑zero greenhouse gas emissions. This directly aligns with the NCCR Catalysis vision of sustainable, carbon‑neutral value chains, in which the development of advanced catalytic systems for CO₂ conversion is a central pillar. Our findings also show that the methanol economy is a practical pathway to meet global climate commitments. We hope these results will energize the scientific community and encourage dialogue among researchers, industrialists, and policymakers toward their real-world implementation.

Publication details:
A feasible methanol economy for a green future. H. Kolmeijer, A. Nabera, A.J. Martín, G. Guillén-Gosálbez, J. Pérez-Ramírez. Green Chem. 2025. DOI: 10.1039/d5gc04615g.