At the mouth of the the Pearl River, an ocean going ship slowly docked. The crew is no longer waiting for low sulfur fuel, but for a clean power source with carbon emissions far lower than fossil fuels throughout its entire lifecycle. This refueling scenario is happening intensively in major ports around the world, and the fuel behind it may one day come from sugarcane bagasse in rural Foshan.

Recently, the 300000 tons/year green fuel project in Foshan was registered, which is a key milestone in this energy transformation.

A new journey of waste material

The project belongs to the C2541 biomass liquid fuel production industry category and follows a path of turning waste into fuel: using agricultural and forestry waste such as sugarcane bagasse and wood processing waste as raw materials, the conversion is completed through processes such as biomass raw material gasification, gas purification, carbon hydrogen ratio adjustment, desulfurization and decarbonization, and methanol production.

The cleverness of this process lies in its ability to use both air and gas. The synthesis gas obtained from biomass gasification can be used to produce both methanol and liquefied natural gas through methane reaction. Therefore, the final product of the project is no longer a single category, but an annual production of 235500 tons of green methanol and 64400 tons of green LNG. Not only does it absorb agricultural and forestry waste, but it also significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions throughout the product's lifecycle compared to traditional fossil based methanol.

2.4 billion yuan in Luozi Datang

The project is located in Plot 1, east of Yongji Road and south of Fengshun Road, Datang Town, Sanshui District, Foshan City. The project unit is Guangdong Zhenwei Green Source Energy Technology Co., Ltd., with a total investment of 2423.07 million yuan. The plan is to start construction on December 1, 2026 and complete it on December 1, 2028.

This is not starting from scratch. Behind the construction unit is a green fuel investment platform jointly built by Fo Ran Energy and Hong Kong China Gas. The joint venture between the two parties, Inner Mongolia Yigao, has achieved a green methanol production capacity of 50000 tons per year and sold it in bulk. It has won the EU ISCC EU and ISCC PLUS international certifications for four consecutive years, and will expand its production to 300000 tons per year in the future. This filing is an upgrade to the original Three Water Plan: from a single green methanol solution to a composite production capacity of methanol and LNG co production, forming a dual base pattern of one south and one north with the Inner Mongolia base.

The site selection has also been considered. Foshan (Sanshui) New Materials Industrial Park is the only provincial-level chemical park in Foshan City, with a planned area of 11000 acres. It is equipped with complete supporting facilities such as water, electricity, gas pipeline network, and public pipe gallery. The project can also benefit from the storage and dock resources of the Pearl River Delta to radiate to the Greater Bay Area and overseas markets.

The demand to sail towards the blue ocean

The push from the demand side is more direct. The International Maritime Organization has clearly stated that the annual greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by 2030 should be reduced by more than 20% compared to 2008, and net zero emissions should be achieved around 2050; The EU Marine Fuel Regulations have also come into effect. As a result, orders for methanol powered ships continue to increase, and green methanol has become a realistic choice to replace marine fuel in the short to medium term.

But the supply is far behind. By the end of 2025, China has built a green methanol production capacity of about 380000 tons per year, and the total production capacity of projects planned, under construction, and put into operation nationwide has exceeded 51 million tons per year. The period from 2026 to 2028 will be a period of concentrated production. In 2026, green fuels will be included in the government work report for the first time, and methanol clean alternative energy will be officially upgraded from industry exploration to national energy strategy.keywords:New energy information network

Two years later, when the facilities in Datang start operating, the agricultural and forestry waste that has been burned or discarded will be transported to Deep Blue in the form of clean fuel.Editor/Yang Meiling