Greenlyte Carbon Technologies, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion (MPI CEC) and Evonik Industries win public funding to conduct a pre-study on integrating Greenlyte’s proprietary Direct Air Capture (DAC) and hydrogen technology with methanol synthesis. The project builds on Greenlyte’s successful Grüne Gründungen plant and prepares the ground for its first commercial plant in Marl.
CCU Modellregion is a multi-million euro initiative provided by the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, with the goal to drive carbon capture and utilization innovation in NRW and Germany.
As part of the project, a lab-scale methanol reactor will be erected at Greenlyte’s plant and connected to a proprietary carbon and hydrogen unit. Greenlyte will lead the integration with its technology, the Max Planck Institute contributes catalysis and methanol synthesis expertise, and Evonik evaluates the resulting methanol for industrial applications.
“A great next step in our scale-up roadmap, this project will provide the technical clarity needed for our first commercial DAC-2-E-Methanol plant in Marl.” said Dr. Niklas Friederichsen, CTO and Co-Founder of Greenlyte. “We’re excited to be working with our partners Evonik and the MPI CEC."
Dr. Holger Ruland, Group Leader of Catalytic Technologies at Max Planck Institute, commented: “At MPI CEC, we have great experience in methanol synthesis from CO2 rich feed gases. This reaction represents a crucial technological backbone for a post-fossil world, re-incorporating the greenhouse gas CO2 into the value chain of industrial chemistry.”
About Greenlyte Carbon Technologies
In order to enter the energy abundance age, humanity needs to be able to tap into the endless power potential of the sun. Greenlyte’s Direct-Air-Capture (DAC) technology enables the production of cheap liquid renewable energy by extracting carbon directly from the air, co-producing green hydrogen and converting it to e-crude, an oil alternative made sustainably from the air. Founded in September 2022, Greenlyte has raised over $40 million, employs 60+ people, and launched its first commercial projects. Looking ahead, the company plans to grow its capturing capacity to 100 MT of CO₂ p.a. by 2050.
About Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion
The Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion is concerned with the fundamental chemical processes that play a role in the storage and conversion of energy. The aim is to use a comprehensive understanding of the mode of action of active centers of catalysts to store energy from renewable resources such as sun and wind in such a way that it can be used independently of time and place. The institute is divided into several scientific research departments and employs more than 400 people from over 50 nations.
About Evonik
Evonik is one of the world’s leading specialty chemicals companies, active in over 100 countries. Its focus on innovation-driven solutions enables progress across key industries such as energy, mobility, healthcare, and resource efficiency. Headquartered in Essen, Germany, Evonik generated €15.3 billion in sales in 2023 and employs around 33,000 people. Through its sustainability-driven product portfolio and strong research capabilities, Evonik supports the transformation toward climate neutrality and circularity.