Low-carbon methanol
Bio-methanol and e-methanol
Molecularly identical to conventional methanol. The difference is the certificate — and the certificate is what you are paying the premium for.
Bio-methanol and e-methanol are molecularly identical to conventional methanol. They differ only in origin and in the paperwork that proves it — which matters commercially, because the paperwork is what you are paying the premium for. A buyer who cannot name the certification scheme, the certificate reference and the boundary the greenhouse gas figure was calculated over has not actually bought a low-carbon product; they have bought conventional methanol at a markup.
The demand story is shipping. Methanol is one of very few alternative marine fuels with a real vessel orderbook behind it, and the binding constraint has consistently been certified supply rather than appetite. That has consequences for industrial buyers too: the same certified volumes you might want for a Scope 3 claim are being competed for by shipowners with charter commitments.
Key points
- Bio-methanol is produced from biogenic feedstocks — waste, residues and biogas. E-methanol is synthesised from captured CO2 and renewable hydrogen.
- Producers quote greenhouse gas reductions of up to around 80% against the conventional fossil route. “Up to” is a range, not a number — ask for the boundary.
- Most certified volume is sold on a mass-balance basis. Confirm your own reporting framework accepts mass balance before you pay for it.
- Insist on the scheme by name and the certificate reference. ISCC PLUS or equivalent — not the word “green”.
- The UK's first commercial bio-methanol bunkering service launched at the Port of Immingham in February 2026.
The Immingham milestone
In February 2026, Exolum, Methanex and Ørsted launched the UK's first commercial bio-methanol bunkering service at the Port of Immingham. Exolum provides the storage and bunkering infrastructure, Methanex supplies ISCC-certified bio-methanol produced from waste and residues, and Ørsted became the first customer, fuelling service vessels for its North Sea offshore wind farms.
For shipping this is a bunkering story. For UK industrial buyers it is something more useful: the first substantial certified low-carbon methanol storage on British soil, which changes what a credible domestic green methanol enquiry looks like. Before it, sourcing certified material into the UK meant importing it yourself. After it, there is a physical supply point to reference.
Get three things in writing: the certification scheme and certificate reference; whether the claim is physical or mass-balance; and the stated greenhouse gas reduction together with the system boundary it was calculated over. Without all three, the claim is not auditable and should not appear in your own reporting.
Bio-methanol explained
Feedstocks, production routes, certification and what the premium actually buys you.
E-methanol explained
Captured CO2 and renewable hydrogen: how it is made, what it costs, and where projects are being built.
ISCC certification and mass balance
What ISCC PLUS certifies, how mass balance works, and what your auditor will want to see.
Methanol bunkering in the UK
Immingham and what comes next: infrastructure, availability and what it means for shore-side buyers.
The project pipeline
What is operating, what has slipped and what has been cancelled — including one project abandoned after construction began.
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