Target for producing carbon-neutral fuels such as eMethanol, eDME, and hydrogen
Expanding sales channels through active business exchanges with overseas companies

Establishment of Biofriends Inc. in November 2016, completion of Boeun DME Plant 1 in August 2020, certified as a technologically innovative small and medium-sized business in August 2021, certified as a hydrogen specialized company in May 2022, selected as one of the national 1000 innovative companies in October, 2023 Boeun DME Plant 2 completed in August.

Biofriends Inc., which has been working hard since its establishment in 2016, held the completion ceremony for its second plant in Boeun DME on August 31.

CEO Wonjun Cho said, "The DME manufacturing technology, which is a core material of BioFriends, not only consists of a process of dehydrating DME from methanol, but also includes a process technology that manufactures methanol and DME, which are the core fuel materials of the chemical plant, using carbon dioxide," adding, "We have DME hydrogen reforming system technology of various sizes, applied it to fuel cells and hydrogen stations, and have DME utilization technology as a hydrogen carrier."

BioFriends currently produces and sells 5,000 tons of DME per year at its 1st plant in Boeun, Chungcheongbuk-do. It is expanding its market share of aerosols, refrigerants, and foaming agents by securing new domestic customers.

In particular, it will export aerosols or LPG+DME mixed compounds to Japanese government offices starting in 2022, and sign a cooperative partnership related to DME to expand supply this year and cooperate with various measures. From this, it plans to cooperate and promote various utilization measures for overseas sales, such as carbon neutral fuel, e-fuels, and sustainable businesses.

CEO Cho said, "After the completion ceremony of Boeun Plant 2, 10,000 tons of DME will be additionally produced per year to increase sales by attempting to change the use of DME as well as the aerosol market. In order to use it as a carbon neutral fuel that changes not only in the domestic DME market but also in Asia, we want to expand our business from carbon footprint to carbon circulation e-fuel sales in line with the energy transition paradigm.

"In the future, the third plant will build a factory that produces methanol and DME at a CCU plant that collects CO₂ to focus its business capabilities on exporting technology and selling low-carbon carbon neutral fuels not only in Korea but also overseas in Asia such as Japan and Indonesia."

BioFriends is also actively pursuing entry into clean energy fields such as hydrogen.

CEO Cho said, "The hydrogen manufacturing project using domestic waste plastics is underway as a government project in the field of resource recycling or resource circulation, and we are planning to produce clean hydrogen and low-carbon fuels, emethanol and eDME in connection with domestic companies. We are working with Norwegian LPG company Flogas to produce methanol, DME, and carbon black from synthetic fuels, including CO₂, emitted from the Norwegian steel industry, and we will continue to produce and sell low-carbon eco-friendly fuels in consultation with domestic petrochemical companies and steel companies."

It is pushing for a joint implementation agreement with the U.S. Prime Plasma, which is a U.S. partner of BioFrances and has facilities to manufacture clean hydrogen and carbon black in biogas, and each company is investing a total of 1 billion won within this year to manufacture clean hydrogen and conductive carbon black on a pilot scale.

CEO Cho said, "We have signed a LOI with Indonesia to promote a project to collect and carry out CO₂ emitted from coal power generation as a project to manufacture 120,000 tons of methanol and DME annually. In addition, we are pushing for overseas export business with a request to sell DME produced at the second plant in order to sell DME as fuel as well as aerosols to Indonesia," he explained.

In Japan, it has signed an MOU with 'Taiyo Petroleum Gas Co., Ltd.' which is an LPG-DME mixed gas seller, to export 2,000-3,000 tons of DME to promote the sale of various eco-friendly low-carbon fuels or compounds, and is currently exporting 100 tons of DME per month abroad.

"New overseas export outlets include Turkiye, India, Saudi Arabia and Canada. "Our mid- to long-term development roadmap is to stably produce and distribute DME at home and abroad by 2023 through the 1st and 2nd plants, and to capture CO₂ to enter overseas global markets from 2024, and start as a mid-term business in connection with the domestic industry."

In addition, from 2028, the goal is to enter the eFuel business by promoting projects that combine CCU technology using solar energy and wind energy, which are renewable energy sources with RE100, and continue to promote low-carbon fuel production projects produced from CO₂.

CEO Wonjun Cho said, "The transition to clean hydrogen is also very important, so water electrolysis technology development should find ways to meet the current market price by improving technology until technical maturity is achieved in all industries. In the mid-term, domestic demand for natural gas pipeline and LPG is high, so it is necessary to quickly establish industries for blue hydrogen and cyan hydrogen using them and eventually convert them to a hydrogen economy, a clean energy source. "Although it is difficult for the industry to convert rapidly, I think the plan is to reduce greenhouse gas by supplying renewable energy, converting to clean hydrogen, and converting to a sustainable and CO₂-free industry."

Source: Gas News http://www.gasnews.com