Bill Gates-Backed Investment Fund Supports Startup Reducing Impacts Of Oil Wells By Turning Gas Into Valuable Methanol

While carbon dioxide is often referenced as a core culprit of climate change, the greenhouse gas methane is over 80 times more impactful during 20 years in the atmosphere. Methane is also the primary component of natural gas, which often moves into the atmosphere from the flaring and venting of oil and gas operations used to extract it.

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Gates's Latest Climate Investment

Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures and others invested $20 million into a startup tackling the methane release problem. Florida-based startup M2X Energy is developing mobile gas-to-methanol units. They are about the size of a semitrailer and can convert flared or vented natural gas into methanol, a useful industrial material and fuel. The company is testing a demonstration unit in North Dakota's Bakken shale play. A "play" is a geology term that describes oil fields in a certain region that share certain geological circumstances. 

Flaring occurs when oil and gas operators burn off gasses from oil production or release it into the atmosphere. Flaring is a faster and cheaper option than building infrastructure to capture and better manage the gasses. 

With an M2X trailer, an oil well team can direct gas that usually goes to a flare a distance away into a pipe instead. The gas stream powers an engine, which then oxidizes the gas into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide known as syngas. Methanol is produced by passing the syngas over a standard methanol copper zinc oxide catalyst. Most methanol production comes from natural gas or coal facilities. 

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The Climate Connection

When combusted as a fuel, methanol generates less CO2 and particulate matter than many other fossil fuel-derived products. It could improve the climate impact of sectors like marine shipping. About 20% of global supplies are currently blended into gasoline and used in alternative fuels. To reach widespread adoption, companies like M2X and must overcome challenges such as methanol holding less energy per liter than fuels like diesel. 

M2X is not Gates's only methane-reducing investment. He also invested in Windfall Bio, a startup that addresses the methane produced by cows on large farms. The company adds special microbes to the soil. The microbes eat the methane produced from the sun-heating cow waste and turn it into usable fertilizer that is easily repurposed to feed crops. 

M2X expects to deploy up to a dozen units over the next one to two years in oilfields in the U.S. and internationally. The company's business model in the U.S. is to purchase stranded gas directly from operators, process it on-site and sell the methanol for a variety of industrial uses. The company expects to sell units directly to energy producers. 

Many climate-aiding startups use the crowdfunding platform StartEngine to raise capital to further their ambitious world-changing goals. Investors can also claim a stake in StartEngine itself through an investment of $500 or more. 

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