IIT-Guwahati join hands with Hyderabad-based company for commercial production of bio-methanol

Guwahati, May 28 (PTI) Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati on Thursday said it joined hands with Kaashyap Cleantech Innovations for commercial production of bio-methanol.
    To advance sustainable energy and greenhouse gas utilisation, the IIT-Guwahati signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Hyderabad-based Kaashyap Cleantech Innovations Pvt Ltd for large-scale commercialisation of bio-methanol production technology based on chemoautotrophic bacteria.
    "The technology enables the biological conversion of methane and carbon dioxide, two of the most potent greenhouse gases, into bio-methanol, a versatile, liquid fuel and industrially relevant solvent," IIT-Guwahati said in a statement.
    Methane is a greenhouse gas 27–30 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of global warming potential.
    While converting methane and carbon dioxide into liquid fuels offers a dual benefit of emission reduction and renewable energy generation, existing chemical methods are energy-intensive, expensive, and produce toxic by-products, severely limiting their scalability.
    IIT Guwahati researchers have addressed this challenge through a fully biological and catalyst-free process, the statement said.
    "The research team, led by Prof Debasish Das and Krishna Kalyani Sahoo (PhD scholar), Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati, has developed a two-stage bioprocess based on a chemoautotrophic biocatalyst that operates under mild conditions," it added.
    The bio-methanol produced has been tested as a diesel-blended fuel in a four-stroke diesel engine, yielding significant environmental and performance benefits like up to 87 per cent reduction in carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, hydrogen sulphide and smoke emissions compared to pure diesel.
    "Diesel-methanol blends outperformed pure diesel in fuel consumption, energy efficiency and engine performance, while maintaining similar mechanical efficiency. Bio-methanol serves as a precursor for producing formaldehyde, acetic acid and other high-value industrial chemicals," IIT-Guwahati said.
    Speaking about the technology, IIT Guwahati Director Devendra Jalihal said that the institute is committed towards addressing sustainable development challenges.
    "The technology presents an eco-friendly and cost-efficient avenue for clean fuel generation while supporting efforts toward carbon mitigation," he added.
    Kaashyap Group Managing Director Kiran KK said that the cutting-edge technology developed by IIT-Guwahati is highly remarkable as it achieves two important sustainability milestones simultaneously.
    "It successfully produces a high-quality biofuel, Methanol, providing a viable green alternative to fossil fuels, while actively sequestering carbon dioxide that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere," he added.
    This dual-action mechanism makes the entire process remarkably green, positioning it perfectly to qualify for carbon credit schemes and accelerate our transition to a net-zero future, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)