Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Maritime Methanol: Adaptable, Renewable and Environmentally-friendly

Project description

Tackling maritime emissions, the green way

The maritime industry, the backbone of global trade, faces a significant challenge: its carbon footprint. Vessels relying on traditional fuels contribute substantially to CO2 emissions, impacting both the environment and industry sustainability. With this in mind, the EU-funded M2ARE project aims to develop a novel maritime methanol process. Grounded in biogenic CO2 and renewable H2, M2ARE will pioneer a low-cost, environmentally friendly solution to propel the maritime sector towards a more sustainable future. By expanding the feedstock base through bio-CO2 assessment and introducing an advanced reactor system, the project aims to deliver an adaptable solution that can reduce emissions by over 80 % compared to conventional fossil fuels.

Objective

The M²ARE project develops and demonstrates a novel process for “Maritime Methanol”, a new grade of low-cost green methanol based on biogenic CO2 and renewable H2, to support the needs of the global shipping sector to reduce their CO2 emission.

The highlights of the M²ARE project:
Assessment and qualification of bio-CO2 from different sources (biogas, bioethanol, pulp & paper, combustion, …) for its feasibility in the methanol synthesis, thus increasing the feedstock base for Maritime Methanol.
An improved methanol process using a new reactor system based on process intensification and a simplified methanol purification will be demonstrated. The new process is uniquely suited to convert bio-CO2 compositions with fluctuating H2 supply to flexible grades of Maritime Methanol which will be further optimised in its composition and validated through a series of engine tests.
A digital model of the whole value chain from CO2/H2 to the maritime fuel will be developed to de-risk the technology and boost its scale-up by assessing and optimizing different geographical scenarios as basis for the deployment roadmap.

M²ARE is committed to deliver by mid 2027 a European “Maritime Methanol” process (at TRL 7) providing >80% CO2 emission reduction compared to fossil maritime fuels and >10% TCO savings compared to state-of-the art green methanol technologies.

M²ARE consists of a powerful and capable consortium with diverse expertises around the value chain: Air Liquide as world-leader in methanol technology, MAN as world leader for methanol-fueled maritime engines and Maersk as the world’s largest shipping company will provide industrial perspectives, while academic partners from Greece (CERTH), Italy (SSSA Pisa), France (LRPG) and The Netherlands (TU Delft) will contribute with unrivaled scientific expertise in catalyst testing, digital tools, reactor simulation and Life Cycle Assessment. Finally, ETA Florence will guarantee top-level dissemination of the project results.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation Actions

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

AIR LIQUIDE FORSCHUNG UND ENTWICKLUNG GMBH
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 209 375,00
Address
GWINNERSTRASSE 27 33
60388 FRANKFURT AM MAIN
Germany

See on map

Region
Hessen Darmstadt Frankfurt am Main, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 3 156 250,00

Participants (8)

My booklet 0 0