The EMPHATICAL Project (Efficient Methanol from Pumped Heat and Calcium Looping) officially started on 1 November 2024, marking a significant step towards decarbonising energy-intensive industries, particularly the metallurgical sector.
Achieving the EU’s 2050 climate goals requires industries to adopt zero-emission and circular processes. Methanol is a versatile product that can support this transition, but producing e-methanol competitively requires breakthroughs in CO₂ capture, renewable electricity integration, and process efficiency.
EMPHATICAL addresses these challenges by targeting residual CO/CO₂ gases from electrified metallurgical processes (EAF & SAF). The project integrates oxy-blown calcium looping CO₂ capture, gas purification, and CO₂ conversion to e-methanol using green hydrogen, resulting in a first-of-a-kind TRL 7 demonstrator. This integrated approach aims to reduce specific energy consumption and production costs by 25%, while demonstrating economic and environmental viability.
By 2050, EMPHATICAL plants are expected to achieve an overall CO₂ reduction of 41 Mt/year, supporting the EU’s net-zero targets.
