BioMCN Runner-up in Responsible Care Competition

Wednesday, 04 June 2008 15:16

The Competition

Each year the Netherlands Chemical Industry Association (VNCI) organises a Responsible Care competition to recognise developments in health, safety and the environment in the processing industries. This year BioMCN was runner-up with its process to produce methanol from crude glycerine. Methanol is normally produced from natural gas, a non-renewable fossil fuel. The VNCI will submit BioMCN’s environmentally friendly technology for the European Responsible Care Award competition, which is organised by CEFIC, the European chemical industry association.

The Process

BioMCN has developed a process to produce methanol from renewable resources – specifically organic by-products such as glycerine (a by-product of biodiesel production). Methanol has a range of applications. For example, it can be blended with liquid fossil fuels to reduce their carbon footprint. The great advantage of BioMCN's pathway is that it uses sustainable materials and therefore does not compete with food crops. The process has been proven at the pilot plant scale and is now being scaled up for commercial production.

The Company

BioMCN was founded in November 2006. Current shareholders are the Dutch sustainable energy company Econcern, the Japanese chemical company Teijin, the Dutch investment company Noordelijke Ontwikkelingsmaatschappij, and ChemieInvest. The company currently has 80 employees. BioMCN is based at Delfzijl in the Netherlands where it is converting a conventional methanol plant for use with its new process. Industrial-scale production is scheduled to start in 2009, with an initial capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year and scope for expansion to 800,000 t/yr.

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