To the editor:

There’s been a lot of discussion about green methanol as a potential future for ethanol plants, but the reality is clear: building a green methanol plant at an individual ethanol facility is neither feasible nor economically viable.

First, while there is growing interest in green methanol, the market remains undeveloped and lacks the scale necessary to support widespread adoption. For green methanol production to be economically viable, it requires large-scale facilities that can efficiently integrate supply chains and secure long-term buyers. A single ethanol plant attempting to produce green methanol on its own would struggle with both demand uncertainty and the high capital investment required.

Without the ability to produce at scale and access a reliable market, standalone green methanol projects simply do not pencil out.

Even if there were a strong market for green methanol, the economics simply don’t work. The infrastructure costs to build a green methanol plant at an ethanol facility are significant. A single ethanol plant cannot generate enough CO2 to produce the necessary amount of green methanol to reach the scale required to justify such an investment. These projects require economies of scale — something that an isolated ethanol facility cannot achieve on its own.

Additionally, the amount of wind and solar energy needed to produce green methanol is staggering. A standalone plant would require an immense renewable energy footprint, far exceeding the available capacity for a single facility. Without access to an abundant and consistent supply of low-cost renewable power, a green methanol project would be financially unsustainable.

Finally, large infrastructure projects require significant financing. Capital providers will require developers to de-risk their projects as much as possible. Attaching to a single ethanol facility poses two significant challenges. First, CO2 supply is not certain for the long term operations of a green methanol facility. What happens if the ethanol plant shuts down or goes bankrupt?

The green methanol facility becomes a stranded asset. Second, the green methanol facility has no flexibility in finding the best location that can supply the necessary renewable power at an affordable price. Sites proposed at an individual ethanol facility simply won’t get financed.

The only way to make green methanol and other eFuels work is through a concentrated approach — one that relies on infrastructure that can deliver a steady, clean, and scalable stream of CO2. A single 100-million-gallon ethanol facility produces less than 300,000 metric tons of CO2 per year — less than half of what Infinium needs to operate at scale. This volume is simply not enough to support a viable green methanol project on its own.

This is exactly why the partnership between Summit Carbon Solutions and Infinium is structured for success. By utilizing Summit’s CO2 pipeline, Infinium can access up to 670,000 metric tons of CO2 annually, ensuring a reliable supply for large-scale eFuels production while having siting flexibility to find the best location for renewable power. This model is what makes sense — strategic locations, large CO2 infrastructure, and the ability to scale production in a way that benefits ethanol producers, farmers, and the broader economy.

Investments in eFuels must be smart, not speculative. The path forward isn’t individual ethanol plants trying to go it alone — it’s leveraging infrastructure that enables real market access, long-term viability, and economic opportunity for producers.

Kelly Nieuwenhuis

Primghar