TY - JOUR
TI - Life Cycle Assessment of Methanol from Fossil, Biomass, and Waste Sources, and Its Use as a Marine Fuel in Dual-Fuel Engines
AU - Masum, F
AU - Tan, E
AU - Kolodziej, C
AU - Hawkins, T
T2 - Environmental Science and Technology
AB - Methanol is gaining interest in the marine sector from energy security and reducing emissions perspective. This study provides a comparative life cycle assessment of methanol as a marine fuel, across GHG and criteria air pollutant emission metrics, when it is used in a dual-fuel engine. Twelve methanol pathways from four different feedstock categories were considered, including (1) cellulosic biomass─forest residues and clean pine mix, corn stover, switchgrass, and miscanthus; (2) organic wastes─renewable natural gas from wastewater sludge, swine manure, food waste, and landfill gas; (3) fossil resources─coal and natural gas (NG); and (4) e-methanol using captured carbon dioxide. When used in a dual-fuel engine with pilot fuel, life cycle GHG emissions for woody biomass-based methanol were approximately 19 gCO2e MJ–1, while emissions from waste-based sources ranged between −154 and 31 gCO2e MJ–1. Methanol from renewable sources showed a GHG reduction potential between 58 and 226% compared to conventional NG-based methanol (122 gCO2e MJ–1), primarily due to the avoided emissions from conventional waste management. When carbon from process emissions were captured, the reduction could be up to 327%. All pathways exhibited lower NOX, and particulate matter emissions compared to the baseline marine fuel (MGO 0.1% sulfur), while woody biomass and coal pathways had higher SOXemissions.
DA - 2025/11//
PY - 2025
PB - American Chemical Society (ACS)
VL - 59
IS - 43
SP - 23239
EP - 23250
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.5c08873
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.5c08873
LA - English
KW - Agriculture: Energy Crops
KW - Biogenic Gases
KW - CO₂
KW - Forest Biomass
KW - Fossil-derived Hydrocarbons
KW - Wastes and Byproducts
KW - Methanol
KW - Catalysis
KW - Electrochemical
KW - Thermochemical
KW - Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) and Air Emissions
KW - Unspecified Vessel Segment
ER -