Industrial
23 June 2026
SunGas to abandon biomethanol project
Written by Richard Hands
SunGas Renewables Inc. has said that it will cease further development of the Beaver Lake Biofuels project, a proposed wood fibre-to-low carbon methanol facility in Louisiana. The project was to have involved integrating three of SunGas S1000 syngas production systems with downstream technologies to produce approximately 553,000 t/a of low carbon methanol, and geological storage of approximately 1.1 million t/a of biogenic CO2. The company says that the decision “reflects a combination of factors that affected Beaver Lake’s ability to advance on the timetable required, including slower-than-expected market adoption of low-carbon marine fuels (specifically low carbon methanol), uncertainty regarding the carbon capture and storage pathway for the project and clarity on the available regulatory support and financing conditions needed to support a project of this scale.”
“We continue to believe low carbon methanol can help decarbonize the maritime, aviation and chemicals industries. However, given the current regulatory uncertainty, slower customer uptake and broader financing and infrastructure constraints, we do not believe the conditions are in place to move the project forward successfully. We are grateful to the many public and private partners who supported the project, and today’s announcement does not change our confidence in the long-term potential of SunGas’ technology to produce low-cost, low carbon molecules, including methanol, SAF, other transportation fuels and methane,” said Robert Rigdon, Chief Executive Officer of SunGas.
