Ómar Sigurbjörnsson is the Chief Marketing Officer of CRI (Carbon Recycling International). He joins us for an informative chat about the company and its operations.
Ómar says that in the beginning, the founders of CRI were two Icelanders and two Americans, but today the company is mostly owned by Icelanders. It is therefore safe to say that this is Icelandic ingenuity at work.
CRI's methanol plant was built in Svartsengi in 2010-11. The goal of the plant was to demonstrate that it was possible to produce methanol from carbon dioxide emissions, including from HS Orka's geothermal power plant in Svartsengi.
The methanol is produced through a chemical reaction of carbon dioxide with hydrogen, which is produced by the electrolysis of water. The chemical reaction creates a mixture of methanol and water. The substances are then separated by distillation.
This technology is unique, and the company has received global attention for its operations. Last year, a new plant was opened in China with twenty-five times the capacity of the older plant in Svartsengi.
All this and more in this informative podcast.