The Unmanned Power-to-Methanol Production (UP-TO-ME) project is an EU-funded project under the Horizon European programme that is taking on the great challenge of developing a fully automated process for the decentralised production of renewable methanol. The UP-TO-ME concept involves converting decentralised CO2 point-sources to production sites for renewable fuels for hard-to-electrify applications, with the aim of significantly impacting the journey to carbon net-zero.
The UP-TO-ME project will create a fully integrated, automated technology used to produce methanol. This methanol will be analysed to ensure it meets the suitable requirements to be considered a clean fuel to be used for hard-to-electrify applications, such as marine vessels and heavy goods vehicles (HGV), two very large greenhouse gas emitters across the globe.
The journey to achieving Carbon net-zero has become a priority around the world, with many industries looking to find innovative solutions to the ever-growing climate crisis. Additionally, it’s no secret that the Eu has set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, with the aim of reaching carbon net-zero by 2050. Meeting these targets depends considerably on the availability of reliable and cost-effective technologies, and the UP-TO-ME project aims to deliver.
The UP-TO-ME concept is the first of its kind, combining the capture of CO2 with methanol synthesis in a fully autonomous, unmanned plant. This process involves the use of 3D-printed reactors and column packings designed using highly advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics. The overall aim of UP-TO-ME is to provide self-optimizing control even for off-grid operation, and this is a huge challenge that has never been achieved before.
Project progress
The UP-TO-ME project will soon be entering into its third and final year, and our consortium of expert organisations have made brilliant contributions to achieving the overall project objectives.
For instance, the first litres of methanol were produced using the UP-TO-ME technology. This was an exciting moment for the project as it proved the technology to be successful in its primary function. Currently the produced methanol is being analysed to ensure it is suitable to be used as a marine fuel.
Additionally, the consortium has just passed the mid-term evaluation of the project and we are clearly on the right track! It has been great to see that several litters of renewable methanol have been produced successfully, using the UP-TO-ME technology, and we are well on the way to achieving the project’s objectives.
As we progress in the project, we’re eager to hear your thoughts on methanol production, and how you believe the UP-TO-ME project will impact society in the future. Whether you’re an expert in the field of methanol and fuel production or have no relation to it at all, we want to hear from you!
To collect your opinions, we have created two questionnaires related to our project objectives, one for experts in the field with relevant technical knowledge and another for those who have no relation to the methanol sector but maintain an interest in the subject.
We will use this data to gain valuable insights into how the public perceives the future impact of methanol production as to methanol production to be used as a marine fuel.
Gaining this information from two differing perspectives will be highly beneficial for the project team!
If you’re an expert in the field of methanol and fuel production, we ask you kindly to share your thoughts about the future impact of UP-TO-ME here.
If you have no relation to the field of methanol and fuel production, we ask you to kindly share your thoughts about the future impact of UP-TO-ME here.
Our project consortium is extremely proud of the progress we have made so far and our project coordinator VTT stated “The idea of converting harmful CO2 point-source emissions to a new kind of good-quality marine fuel is exciting, and it is great to work with so many nice, smart, and committed people.”
