A $268 million renewable energy project proposed for Bell Bay would seek to capture carbon dioxide and water from the atmosphere in order to produce green liquid methanol.
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ADME Fuels has plans to produce renewable methanol and dimethyl ether using Tasmania's vast clean energy resources. It's expected the project would create 20-30 jobs.
Michael van Baarle, ADME Fuels' managing director, said that direct air capture of CO2, as opposed to extracting it from the ground, was a carbon neutral process.
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"If you take the carbon out of the air, not out of the ground, even if it goes back into the air, it's completely neutral," he said.
Methanol is produced when hydrogen reacts with CO2.
The proposed project is part of a broader push in Tasmania to capitalise on the emerging global demand for hydrogen, which could lead to the construction of a 1000 megawatt renewable hydrogen plant in the state by 2030.
ADME Fuels' renewable methanol plan is being positioned as a complement to Tasmania's hydrogen vision and Mr van Baarle says the project would be "very much part of the hydrogen story".
Applications for renewable methanol include use as a shipping fuel, as a liquid for fuel cells and as a carrier of hydrogen.
Mr van Baarle said the plant could be in operation by at least 2023.
George Town mayor Greg Kieser said he believed that renewable methanol could serve as an alternative to diesel fuel in a transition to a low emissions future.
"It's easy to convert a lot of existing diesel power plants over to methanol-based consumption and burning," he said.
"There'll be some technologies that will slowly transition over."
Rob Inglis
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
