China's Longi turns farm waste into green methanol

August 15, 2025

Chinese electrolyzer manufacturer LONGi Green Energy has begun construction on a $325 million green methanol project in Inner Mongolia that will combine biomass gasification with hydrogen from the company’s electrolyzers.

Once fully operational, the two-phase facility in Urad Rear Banner Industrial Park will process 600,000 metric tons of agricultural waste annually and is expected to produce 400,000 tons of green methanol a year. 

LONGi said the project will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 1.2 million tons annually, while adding more than 1 gigawatt of wind and solar capacity to the region’s energy mix, Fuel Cell Works reported.

Green methanol from farm waste

Approved in September 2024, the plant will integrate locally generated wind and solar power to run 100 of LONGi’s 5-megawatt electrolyzers, producing hydrogen that will be combined with carbon-rich syngas from biomass feedstocks such as sunflower stalks and corn stover. 

The resulting methanol will be 100 percent renewable. Phase one will convert 190,000 tons of agricultural waste into methanol using gasification and catalytic synthesis. 

Phase two will expand capacity to an additional 210,000 tons per year, with the hydrogen portion coming from the new electrolyzers powered by 850 megawatts of wind and 200 megawatts of solar installations.

According to the company, the plant is expected to generate an annual output value of about 2 billion yuan ($275 million) and create around 1,000 direct and indirect jobs.

“Urad Rear Banner boasts abundant wind and solar resources, resulting in low-cost green electricity, enabling economical scale power generation,” said Yu Litao, vice president of Xi’an LONGi Clean Energy Co, Ltd. 

“The abundant local agricultural biomass provides a low-cost source of carbon dioxide feedstock, laying the foundation for the subsequent development of a green methanol synthesis industry chain.”

Biomass project

LONGi said the project is part of a broader push into low-carbon fuels as China works to meet its carbon neutrality goals. 

Methanol, which can be used as a fuel or chemical feedstock, is increasingly viewed as a key pathway for decarbonizing heavy industry and shipping. 

Green methanol, produced from renewable hydrogen and biomass or captured CO2, avoids the fossil-based emissions of conventional methanol production.

The Inner Mongolia plant is one of several green methanol projects LONGi is developing. In February, the company signed a contract with Gezhouba Group, a China Energy Engineering Group subsidiary, for a 6 billion yuan ($825 million) project in Ganyu District, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province. 

That facility, the first gasification-based green methanol plant in Jiangsu, will also produce synthesis gas from biomass for methanol production.

In April 2024, Xuchang Longi Bioenergy Co., Ltd., another LONGi subsidiary, began construction on a 2 billion yuan ($275 million) green methanol facility in Xuchang, Henan Province. 

That plant will process around 600,000 tons of crop straw and forestry residues annually to produce 120,000 tons of methanol, while generating 30,000 kilowatts of self-produced electricity.

In recent years, LONGi, known as one of the world’s largest solar panel and electrolyzer manufacturers, has expanded into green hydrogen and alternative fuels as part of China’s push to develop a hydrogen economy and reduce industrial emissions.

The company said the Inner Mongolia project is expected to be fully operational after both phases are complete, though it did not disclose a timeline for completion.