StormFisher Hydrogen said October 15 that it had acquired Recyclage Carbone Varennes (RCV) and that it would transform RCV’s partially built site in Varennes, Quebec, into the first large-scale Renewable Fuels of Non-Biological Origin (RFNBO)-compliant low-carbon methanol plant in North America. Scheduled for operation in 2028, the facility will produce fuels for the maritime, aviation and chemical markets.
The facility (#7 in map below and tracked in our weekly Hydrogen Billboard report) will use renewable electricity and water to produce green hydrogen, which would be combined with locally captured carbon dioxide (CO₂) to produce more than 72,000 MT/year of low-carbon methanol. The original RCV project relied on biomass gasification to produce methanol.
RFNBOs are synthetic fuels like renewable hydrogen or e-fuels made from renewable electricity, water and CO₂. They are designed to be GHG-neutral alternatives to fossil fuels, especially in sectors like transport and industry that are difficult to decarbonize, such as aviation and shipping. The term "non-biological origin" distinguishes them from traditional biofuels made from biomass.
