Carbon Recycling International
Carbon Recycling International is an Icelandic technology company that converts captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen into renewable or low-carbon methanol.
Last updated August 25, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
Carbon Recycling International (CRI) is an Icelandic limited liability company focused on producing methanol from carbon dioxide and hydrogen rather than from conventional fossil-fuel feedstocks. Its technology, branded as Emissions-to-Liquids (ETL), combines carbon-dioxide purification, hydrogen generation or recovery, and catalytic methanol synthesis and purification. The resulting methanol is marketed under the Vulcanol trademark. CRI was incorporated in 2006 by Fridrik Jonsson, Art Shulenberger, Oddur Ingolfsson, and KC Tran. Its investors have included Icelandic individuals and funds, Methanex, a major methanol supplier and distributor, and Geely, the Chinese automotive group. The company’s early development was closely associated with Iceland’s renewable-electricity resources and industrial carbon dioxide streams. The company’s first commercial-scale facility, the George Olah Plant, was completed in 2011 near the Svartsengi power station and the Blue Lagoon in Iceland. The plant was designed with annual nameplate production of approximately 5 million litres and captures a portion of the carbon dioxide emitted by the geothermal power facility. In 2011, CRI became the first company identified in its reference material as producing and selling a liquid renewable transport fuel made using carbon dioxide, water, and renewable electricity. CRI’s methanol can be used as a transport fuel, a chemical feedstock, an energy-storage medium, or an intermediate for products such as dimethyl ether, oxymethylene ether, biodiesel-related fuels, and synthetic gasoline. It can also be blended with gasoline or used in engines, ships, and methanol fuel-cell systems designed for methanol operation. The company has conducted vehicle and fleet testing, including work with Geely vehicles and higher methanol blends. A central feature of CRI’s approach is feedstock flexibility. Hydrogen may be generated through water electrolysis using renewable electricity, or recovered from industrial waste gases. Carbon dioxide can come from power generation, lime production, steelmaking, or petrochemical operations. This allows the technology to be deployed as a form of industrial carbon utilization and as a way to convert intermittent renewable electricity into a storable liquid energy carrier. The company has participated in European research and demonstration programs including MefCO2, CirclEnergy, FReSMe, and GAMER. MefCO2 demonstrated carbon-dioxide-to-methanol production at the RWE Niederaussem thermal power plant in Germany. FReSMe adapted the process to residual gases from steel manufacturing in Sweden, with methanol subsequently used by ferry operator Stena. GAMER addressed high-temperature electrolysis and the potential integration of electrolysers with industrial waste heat. CRI has also expanded its industrial project activity in China. Its Shunli facility in Anyang, Henan, commissioned in 2022, was described as the world’s largest carbon-dioxide-to-methanol plant at the time of commissioning. It uses carbon dioxide from lime production and hydrogen recovered from a nearby coking operation. A separate Sailboat facility in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, began operating in 2023 and supplies methanol for polymer and plastics production. These projects illustrate CRI’s movement from small-scale renewable-fuel demonstration toward large industrial carbon-recycling installations. The company positions its technology within the wider methanol economy and the European policy framework for renewable fuels of non-biological origin. Its value proposition is based on reducing dependence on fossil carbon, using industrial emissions as a carbon source, enabling renewable-energy storage, and producing a transportable liquid fuel or chemical intermediate. However, the overall climate benefit depends on the origin of the hydrogen, the source and permanence of the carbon dioxide, the energy used, and the lifecycle emissions of each individual project.
History
Carbon Recycling International was incorporated in Iceland in 2006 by Fridrik Jonsson, Art Shulenberger, Oddur Ingolfsson, and KC Tran. The company was established around the idea that methanol could be synthesized from captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen, allowing renewable electricity and industrial emissions to be connected in a liquid fuel and chemical product. Its investors have included Icelandic interests as well as Methanex and Geely. CRI developed the Emissions-to-Liquids process, which consists of three principal stages: purification of carbon dioxide, generation or recovery of hydrogen, and catalytic synthesis followed by methanol purification. Unlike conventional methanol production from natural gas or coal, the process does not require fossil feedstock reforming to create synthesis gas. The hydrogen can be produced by electrolysis or recovered from suitable industrial gases, while the carbon dioxide can originate from power generation or industrial processes. The company’s first commercial-scale project was the George Olah Plant in Iceland, completed in 2011. Named after Nobel Prize-winning chemist George Andrew Olah, the facility was built close to the Svartsengi geothermal power station and the Blue Lagoon. It was designed for approximately 5 million litres of methanol per year and demonstrated the use of geothermal electricity and carbon dioxide associated with power generation. CRI’s reference material describes the plant as the first facility to produce and sell liquid renewable transport fuel made solely from carbon dioxide, water, and renewable electricity. During the 2010s, CRI broadened its work through European Union research programs. The MefCO2 project, conducted from 2014 to 2019, integrated a CRI methanol unit with the RWE Niederaussem thermal power plant in Germany. It tested the use of captured carbon dioxide and electrolytic hydrogen generated from surplus renewable power, including operation under fluctuating electricity supply. The demonstration produced methanol at a rate of roughly one tonne per day near the end of the project. CRI also participated in CirclEnergy, which examined renewable methanol as a way to absorb surplus electricity from intermittent solar and wind generation and store that energy in a transportable chemical form. Through FReSMe, the company adapted its technology to residual blast-furnace gases from steel production at the Swerea MEFOS facility in Luleå, Sweden. Methanol produced during the demonstration was used by Stena, whose Germanica ferry had demonstrated methanol-fuel operation. These projects showed that the process could use more than one type of industrial carbon source. The GAMER project, completed in 2022, focused on high-temperature electrolysis. CRI participated in the development of proton-ceramic electrolyser technology intended to improve efficiency by coupling electrolysis with industrial waste heat. This work reflected a broader effort to reduce the electricity and thermal penalties associated with hydrogen production. CRI later moved toward larger industrial projects in China. The Shunli plant in Anyang, Henan, was commissioned in October 2022 and was described in the reference material as the largest CO2-to-methanol plant in the world at that time. It was designed for approximately 110,000 tonnes of methanol annually, using carbon dioxide from lime manufacturing and hydrogen recovered from a nearby coking facility. Its methanol was used in heavy-duty truck applications and was also associated with the lighting of the Asian Games flame in Hangzhou in 2023. The Sailboat plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu, began operation in September 2023. Located in the Shenghong Petrochemical Industrial Park, it uses carbon dioxide and hydrogen from neighboring industrial waste streams and produces methanol for polymer and plastics applications, including materials used in solar-panel coatings and plexiglass. Together, the Chinese projects demonstrate CRI’s shift from renewable-transport-fuel demonstration toward integrated industrial carbon-utilization facilities. CRI’s technology is relevant to the methanol economy because methanol can function as a fuel, fuel additive, chemical feedstock, or energy carrier. It can be converted into products such as dimethyl ether, oxymethylene ether, and synthetic gasoline, and it can support methanol engines and fuel-cell systems. Its environmental performance is not automatic: the benefits depend on the carbon source, hydrogen source, electricity mix, process efficiency, and the fate of carbon in downstream products. Within those constraints, CRI’s business model is centered on converting difficult-to-abate industrial emissions and renewable electricity into a liquid commodity that can be stored, shipped, and used in several sectors.
- 2023
Sailboat plant began operation
[1]The Lianyungang facility began producing methanol from industrial carbon dioxide and hydrogen waste streams.
- 2022
Shunli plant commissioned
[1]CRI commissioned its large Anyang carbon-dioxide-to-methanol project in China.
- 2019
MefCO2 demonstration produced methanol
[1]The MefCO2 unit at RWE Niederaussem demonstrated methanol production from power-plant carbon dioxide and electrolytic hydrogen.
- 2011
George Olah Plant completed
[1]CRI completed its first commercial-scale renewable-methanol facility near the Svartsengi power station.
- 2011
Renewable transport fuel sold
[1]CRI became the first company described in the reference material as producing and selling liquid renewable transport fuel from carbon dioxide, water, and renewable electricity.
- 2006
Company incorporated
[1]Carbon Recycling International was incorporated in Iceland by four named founders.
Products and positioning
Industrial carbon-recycling and power-to-methanol technology provider serving renewable-fuel, chemical-feedstock, and energy-storage applications.
Renewable methanol
Vulcanol
CRI’s trademarked renewable methanol product. It is intended for use as a transport fuel, fuel component, chemical feedstock, or energy carrier, with applications ranging from methanol-compatible engines and fuel cells to downstream conversion into other fuels and chemicals.
Carbon-utilization technology
Emissions-to-Liquids
CRI’s trademarked process for converting carbon dioxide and hydrogen into methanol. The system integrates carbon-dioxide purification, hydrogen generation or recovery, catalytic synthesis, and methanol purification, and can be adapted to power-generation, steel, lime, coking, and petrochemical waste streams.
Renewable-methanol production facility · 2011
George Olah Plant
CRI’s Icelandic commercial-scale plant near Svartsengi. It was designed with annual nameplate capacity of approximately 5 million litres and uses carbon dioxide associated with geothermal power generation together with renewable electricity.
Industrial CO2-to-methanol plant · 2022
Shunli plant
A large CRI-based facility in Anyang, China, using carbon dioxide recovered from lime production and hydrogen from a nearby coking operation. The plant was described as having annual capacity of approximately 110,000 tonnes of methanol.
Industrial CO2-to-methanol plant · 2023
Sailboat plant
A facility in Lianyungang, China, that uses carbon dioxide and hydrogen recovered from industrial waste streams at a petrochemical complex. Its methanol is used in polymer and plastics production as well as other industrial applications.
Marketing campaigns
- 2019FReSMe
Sweden · Europe
A demonstration project adapting ETL technology to residual blast-furnace gases from steel production.
Outcome. The project produced low-carbon methanol periodically in 2020, with the output used by Stena in connection with methanol-fuelled ferry operations.
- 2014MefCO2
Germany · Europe
An EU Horizon 2020 technology-development project demonstrating CRI’s process with carbon dioxide from a thermal power plant and electrolytic hydrogen from surplus renewable electricity.
Outcome. The integrated unit at RWE Niederaussem produced methanol and demonstrated operation with fluctuating renewable power and varied carbon-dioxide inputs.
- CirclEnergy
Europe
An EU-supported project examining how surplus renewable electricity from intermittent solar and wind resources could be converted into methanol.
Outcome. The project presented renewable methanol as a chemical storage medium and energy carrier that can separate electricity generation from later energy use.
- GAMER
Europe
A research consortium focused on high-temperature electrolysis and proton-ceramic electrolyser technology.
Outcome. The project was completed in 2022 and explored coupling electrolysis with industrial waste heat to improve combined electrical and thermal efficiency.
Brand decisions
2023
Open the Sailboat industrial methanol facilityProduct launchBackground
The company pursued applications in which carbon dioxide and hydrogen are recovered from industrial complexes and converted into chemical feedstocks.
Action taken
The Sailboat plant in Lianyungang began operation and supplied methanol for polymers and plastics.
Aftermath
The facility extended CRI’s technology beyond transport fuel into industrial materials and chemical manufacturing.
2022
Expand from demonstration plants to large industrial facilitiesStrategyBackground
CRI’s earlier projects demonstrated the process with renewable electricity and emissions from power and steel facilities.
Action taken
The company commissioned the Shunli facility in China, integrating lime-production carbon dioxide with hydrogen recovered from coking operations.
Aftermath
The project represented a move toward large-volume industrial methanol production and circular industrial value chains.
2011
Commercialize renewable methanol production in IcelandProduct launchBackground
CRI sought to demonstrate that carbon dioxide, water, and renewable electricity could be converted into a marketable liquid transport fuel.
Action taken
The company completed the George Olah Plant and began producing renewable methanol at commercial scale.
Aftermath
The facility established CRI’s initial commercial reference project and supported later applications of the ETL process.
Recent events
- 2023
Sailboat plant began operation in Jiangsu[1]
Product launch
A CRI-based facility in Lianyungang began producing low-carbon methanol from carbon dioxide and hydrogen recovered from petrochemical waste streams.
- 2022
Shunli plant began operation in China[1]
Product launch
CRI commissioned a large carbon-dioxide-to-methanol installation in Anyang, Henan, using carbon dioxide from lime production and hydrogen recovered from coking operations.
- 2019
MefCO2 demonstrated industrial carbon-dioxide-to-methanol production[1]
Other
The EU-supported MefCO2 project operated a CRI process at the RWE Niederaussem power plant in Germany, using captured emissions and electrolytic hydrogen.
- 2011
Carbon Recycling International completed the George Olah Plant[1]
Product launch · Other
CRI completed its first commercial-scale methanol facility near Iceland’s Svartsengi power station. The plant was designed to produce renewable methanol from carbon dioxide, water, and renewable electricity.
Sources1 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/carbon-recycling-international · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled