Anaergia to supply biogenic CO2 to European Energy for e-methanol production as fuel for Maersk ships

Canada-based clean energy producer Anaergia has signed an agreement with Denmark’s wind and solar energy producer European Energy for the supply of liquefied biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2).

Under the terms of this agreement, Anaergia is to supply European Energy with up to 60,000 tonnes per year of liquefied biogenic CO2 for a period of 10 years.

Biogenic carbon dioxide is carbon dioxide that is released during the decomposition of organic matter such as food waste. All Anaergia plants use organic waste material to produce biogas, which is composed of methane and carbon dioxide.

Once this gas is processed, Anaergia produces pipeline quality renewable natural gas and a clean stream of carbon dioxide that normally gets released to the atmosphere where it originally came from.

Biogenic carbon dioxide that comes from organic material is considered a desirable raw material for low-carbon fuels as its use does not add new carbon to the atmosphere.

European Energy will produce green e-methanol from this biogenic CO2.

Under the terms of an agreement European Energy had previously entered into with Danish shipping and logistics A.P. Moller – Maersk, the green e-methanol will be used to power the first container vessel ordered by A.P. Moller – Maersk to operate on this carbon neutral fuel.

Anaergia will provide the liquified CO2 from the anaerobic digesters that will operate at its plant being built in Tønder, Denmark. Owing to this agreement with European Energy, Anaergia will build a CO2 liquification system at the plant.

“The benefit for us is the ability to sell the biogenic CO2 from our plants that is produced when we convert organic materials to methane and CO2. By selling this CO2 instead of returning it to the atmosphere, our plants contribute to de-carbonizing hard-to-abate sectors, such as shipping, while becoming more profitable, as we turn this waste gas from our plants into a useful fuel,” Andrew Benedek, Chairman and CEO of Anaergia, explained.

“This is a great example of carbon capture and utilization (CCU), a critical step on the path towards net zero. We are looking forward to working with European Energy on this innovative endeavour, and to potentially working with them on other projects in the future as the need for green methanol rises globally.”

“We are thrilled to team up with Anaergia for the supply of biogenic CO2 to our Danish e-methanol plants. In Anaergia, we have found a partner that like European Energy is committed to fight climate change through new technologies that can make a real impact. We look forward to working with Anaergia, not only in Denmark, but also throughout the world,” Knud Erik Andersen, co-founder and CEO of European Energy, said.