A Review of Green Methanol Production: Technologies, Economic Evaluation, and Carbon Emission Analysis

Green methanol is a low-carbon and environmentally friendly methanol produced from renewable energy or biomass resources. As a leading alternative clean fuel, it can make it possible to achieve zero carbon emissions. Presently, the mainstream technology for the green methanol production includes CO2 capture coupled with green hydrogen (G-H2) to methanol, biomass gasification to methanol, and biomass gasification coupled with G-H2 to methanol. Although there have been many reports on the technical advantages and disadvantages of the above-mentioned processes, there is still a lack of relevant guiding strategies on how to select the appropriate technical processes for large-scale production based on local conditions. To this end, the study establishes a three-dimensional “Technology-Economy-Environment” evaluation system and a full-chain carbon emission model covering “material production-synthesis-transportation-utilization” to summarize the technological developments, production costs, and carbon emission reduction potential across various methanol production pathways in detail. This work aims to provide a theoretical reference for optimizing industrial layouts and enhancing green methanol’s role in the global energy transition.