Billion deal with Spain
Maersk pushes green methanol production
11/03/2022, 4:16 p.m
The Danish shipping giant Maersk has agreed a billion-euro deal with the Spanish government for the production of the green fuel methanol. The agreement is part of a new strategy for the shipping company, which aims to be climate-neutral by 2040.
The Danish shipping company Maersk has signed an agreement with the Spanish government to mass-produce green methanol as an environmentally friendly fuel for cargo ships. The government in Madrid stated in a statement that the planned total investments, in which Spanish energy companies and other international partners are also involved, are ten billion euros.
Galicia in the north and Andalusia in the south are planned as locations. No further details were initially given. Maersk boss Søren Skou had previously met with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Madrid. The agreement is part of a global strategy by the Danish shipping company to replace polluting fossil fuels with methanol from renewable energy sources.
Spain is the second country after Egypt with which the world’s second largest shipping company has signed such an agreement. Further locations on the international trade routes are planned. Maersk has ordered 19 new ships that can run on methanol. If they are in use and will have replaced older ships, they will save around 2.3 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, according to Maersk. The shipping company says it wants to be climate-neutral by 2040.
According to the Federal Environment Agency, global shipping emits more CO2 than Germany. Green methanol, a nearly CO2-neutral fuel, is said to exist when the energy used to produce it comes from renewable sources. For this purpose, as in the case of Spain, hydrogen is produced with the help of wind or solar energy, which reacts with CO2 to form methanol. The CO2 can come from agricultural waste or, for example, from a sewage treatment plant.