Clean Fuel Anchor Project
Building Scotland’s First Biomass To Biomethanol Plant
Project goals
United by our passion to promote & deploy zero-carbon technologies, our focus in Exergic is the creation of a scalable biomethanol business to supply the transport sector that will generate excellent returns without reliance on green subsidies.
Decarbonising Transport
Sustainable liquid fuels are the only practical option with which to decarbonise transport, particularly marine and aviation.
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The technology to efficiently produce such fuels from biomass feedstocks has already been proven at plants around the world.
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Exergic aim to be the first to do this in Scotland.
Fuel from waste biomass
Working closely with our partners, Exergic has identified a stable and scalable supply of “waste” biomass which has the highest environmental credentials.
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Waste biomass has the lowest life-cycle carbon impact of any sustainable fuel pathway, it is cheaper than crop-based feedstocks and cleaner but less plentiful than municipal solid waste.
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Importantly, waste biomass does not compete for land and water resources with food production.
Why biomethanol?
Biomethanol is an excellent fuel because it has a higher energy density than other fuel alternatives such as compressed hydrogen or ammonia (19Mj/Kg).
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Neither does it need cryogenic storage and can be road transported meaning the still lower transport and distribution costs.
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When made from waste biomass It offers as 91% reduction in lifecycle carbon emissions versus fossil energy (10% blending usage almost equals 10% emission reduction for users).
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It also has very low toxicity with low-zero sulphur, is easy to bunker and ideal as a marine fuel or a feedstock for upgrade to SAF for aviation.
How big is the market for biomethanol?
There is a rapidly-growing global market for biomethanol, growing from zero in 2019, to an expected 170 mmtpa by 2050 just to meet aviation demand. Biomethanol can also be upgraded to ethanol, DME, kersosene or Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
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A UK SAF mandate will be introduced and an initial upper trading price for SAF has been determined. UK Government has committed to the SAF Mandate being in place for at least 15 years.
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8% of current world shipping orders are already specifying methanol fuelling.
Timeline
Since forming Exergic in 2022 we have moved quickly to build the company and the project concept to a stage where we have already identified and secured agreements for feedstock. We have also identified a suitable site located in central Scotland.
We are currently starting the process of engaging with technology providers, potential financial partners, and regulators to better define our project. The timeline for our immediate future is outlined below : -
2024
Project
De-risking
We are currently working with our partners to identify and quantity those major project risks, timelines & constraints outside our direct control - including such factors as regulatory requirements, supply-chain capacity, and financial requirements.
2025
Planning & Consultation
During 2025 we will appoint a team of contractors to help us further define our project. We will also commence our planning processes, start public consultation and defining major contract scopes and tender processes.
2026
Project Engineering
In early 2026 we and our partners will commence work on the engineering design for the project. It is not until the completion of this stage will have a complete definition of costs and timescales
2027
Investment Decision
We shall be busy preparing for "final investment decision or "FID". This will involve a formal review of all project risks, costs, economics assumptions and timelines before the major construction and procurement contracts are placed for delivery. We anticipate FID in late 2027 or early 2028.