https://www.cas.cn/cm/202512/t20251218_5092820.shtml

http://ydyl.china.com.cn/2025-12/17/content_118233266.shtml

Biomass-to-green methanol is considered the alternative fuel with the greatest potential for carbon emission reduction and the best economic efficiency in the shipping industry. Compared to traditional fossil fuels, its life-cycle carbon emissions can be reduced by more than 85%. However, in the biomass gasification to green methanol industrial chain, while the downstream synthesis technology is relatively mature, the upstream biomass gasification technology faces challenges. Due to the complex composition and diverse forms of biomass feedstocks, three major challenges exist:

• significant differences in feedstock properties affecting feedstock and syngas quality;
• low ash melting point and high tar byproducts that can easily lead to system shutdowns; and
• severe alkali metal corrosion significantly impacting equipment lifespan.

Existing gasification technologies are therefore unsuitable for these challenges. To address these issues, the circulating fluidized bed technology R&D team at the CAS nstitute of Engineering Thermophysics,  based on over 20 years of technological accumulation, proposed a “phase-separated asynchronous conversion” method tailored to the characteristics of biomass. This method avoids coking during gasification while achieving in-situ directional pyrolysis of tar, reducing tar at the source and increasing syngas yield. Simultaneously, it solves the problems of uniform fluidization of diverse particles and prevention of alkali metal ash corrosion, clearing obstacles for the efficient, stable, and long-cycle production of biomass syngas and successfully establishing a key technological pathway from waste biomass to high-value green liquid fuel.

In December 2025, the first 50,000 Tons/Year plant commenced operation in Zhanjiang, Guangdong. The first batch of green methanol products was loaded onto international shipping vessels at Shenzhen Port, contributing to the low-carbon transformation of my country’s shipping industry. This demonstration project is the first internationally to adopt a biomass gasification-Fischer-Tropsch synthesis coupled biomass direct combustion power generation route. Compared to the biomass coupled with wind, solar, and green electricity to methanol route, it reduces production costs by 30%, demonstrating significant economic advantages.