ROCKLEDGE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--M2X Energy, a company building a scalable methane conversion technology, is emerging from stealth under the leadership of new CEO, Max Pieri, and preparing for the field demonstration of its commercial scale, modular gas-to-methanol plant this quarter.
The company was born on the idea that as long as oil and gas are a part of the energy mix, it’s critical to lower the industry’s environmental impact. Specifically, eliminating flare gas and venting is an urgent climate task. IEA estimates that natural gas flaring resulted in over 140 bcm of natural gas going to waste in 2021, which in addition to the direct 270 million tons of CO2 and 8 million tons of methane emissions each year, creates energy insecurity, as those volumes could be employed to satisfy the existing demand for natural gas. M2X Energy will help solve both problems: first by capturing 100% of methane emissions and then transforming the gas into low-carbon methanol.
Founded by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) in 2020 based on the dissertation work of co-founder and CTO Josh Browne, M2X raised $20 Million in Series A funding in late 2021. The raise was led by BEV and joined by Eni Next, Add Ventures by SCG, and Autodesk Foundation.
While using flare gas to make fuels or chemicals is not new, M2X’s key innovation solves the issues that has kept gas-to-liquids systems from being effective solutions in the field. By leveraging 120 years of engineering and a tried-and-true piece of equipment – the internal combustion engine – M2X is building gas to methanol plants that are modular, scalable, and run autonomously in the field. M2X’s units can be numbered up or down to adapt to the flare gas site, they handle the intermittency often found with flare gas, as well as run on a wide range of gas compositions.
“Reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry is critically important because methane has such a large climate impact in the short-term,” said Carmichael Roberts, Breakthrough Energy Ventures. “BEV-incubated M2X is well-positioned to tackle this industry challenge. Their technology will help oil and gas companies reduce flare gas emissions at the wellhead, while also uniquely creating value via clean methanol production.”
Path to Commercialization
Since completing its Series A round in 2021, M2X Energy has moved quickly to reach its next milestone: building and demonstrating a full-scale commercial unit in the field. To accelerate the building of its engine reformer, the key innovation in its methane conversion systems, M2X Energy enlisted the engineering capabilities at ECR Engines, a high-performance combustion engine Research, Development and Production company located on the Richard Childress Racing campus in Welcome, N.C., known mostly for its NASCAR engines. The engine reformer will be in field tests early this year.
The field demonstration for the full-scale commercial unit is expected in early spring 2023 with initial results available in the summer. After the initial commercial demonstrations, M2X Energy will begin to plan for the deployment at scale of its units to flare gas sites within the United States, and later internationally.
“This is a remarkably fast roadmap to commercialization for a two-years old hard-tech company. M2X offers a pragmatic solution to a big problem, with a tangible impact on the global energy transition to net-zero in a very short timeframe,” said M2X CEO Max Pieri.
Pieri is based out of Boston and joined the company last fall. He worked at Eni for fourteen years in the oil and gas space with experience in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Africa and USA. He recognizes how M2X Energy’s technology addresses a priority problem for operators. As CEO, Pieri is focused on accelerating the commercial deployment of M2X Energy’s units, both in the U.S. market and internationally.
About M2X Energy
M2X Energy, Inc. is focused on methane conversion into low-carbon chemicals. Founded in 2020, its mission is to address natural gas flaring and venting by creating valuable products from otherwise wasted natural gas, reducing methane emissions on the oilfield, and producing low-carbon chemicals – methanol and hydrogen. More information can be found at: www.m2x.energy, or by contacting Diana Alcala, VP of Business Development: diana@m2x.energy.
