When a computer scientist discovered that software wouldn’t be his preferred solution for his next project that he thinks will benefit agriculture, he found another way. That new way for Dr. Jeff Bonar is green methanol.
Software had been a primary fixture in Bonar’s professional career for years. He briefly thought that it could again be a solution as he transitioned his focus (his children challenged him to do it) to improving the environment by minimizing carbon dioxide emissions.
“Carbon accounting,” Bonar explained.
He explained the shortcomings of that idea during his conversation with American Farmland Owner as he headed back to New York following the wedding of one of his children.
RELATED: “What is Carbon Accounting?” is the focus of this video from Eye on Tech.
But the concept, Bonar said, was too new and too cumbersome for farmers, even the well-intentioned who were committed to becoming better environmental stewards. The requirements of tracking carbon emissions from a farm’s fuel, materials, crops, livestock, waste, and inputs weren’t the practical solution that Bonar sought.
The idea to rely on software was an obvious one for Bonar, who served in various developmental and leadership roles for a number of companies over the years.
Dr. Jeff Bonar bio:
Carbon13 Cohort 2 participant at Cambridge, England
CEO, Resilient Mom/Totally Pregnant
CEO, TOTALLY – Smart Parents, Happy Kids
CEO, JumpStart Wireless Corp.
Vice President of Development, Ultimate Software
Vice President of Development, Magic Solutions, Inc.
Object Architect, IBM
But he settled on a different method to try to achieve his professional life’s new goal. And the transition to get to that place was more natural than some may assume.
“It’s lot and lots of people rethinking what they’re doing,” Bonar said about the similarities of his former skillset of uniting various people – i.e., developers, sales staff, and customers – in big computer software projects to now convincing stakeholders looking to reduce climate emissions while also finding a new revenue stream.
RELATED: CBS News produced this video on the record amount of greenhouse gas emissions in 2023. Watch it here.
Bonar is the CEO of CapCO2 Solutions, based in Ridgewood, New York. Much of the company’s focus is connecting with ethanol facilities to capture carbon emissions given off during the production process.
Instead of releasing carbon dioxide into the air – and contributing to concerns about further damaging the earth’s atmosphere – the process uses it to produce green methanol.
Green methanol can then be sold serving as additional revenue. It is primarily used as a sustainable aviation fuel, as well as a key ingredient in plastics and formaldehyde.
RELATED: Methanol Institute produced a deep dive video (it’s quite deep since it’s more than two hours long) that explains green methanol and green hydrogen. Watch that here.
“Doing it in a way that makes sense from a business world perspective but also something that really does impact the carbon,” Bonar said of the concept using green methanol.
Bonar said that ethanol plants have already become increasingly better at reducing waste by extracting corn oil and producing biodiesel, animal feed, and cooking oils.
Converting carbon emissions into green methanol is an extension of that, Bonar believes. It is a two-year process to design, build, and connect an ethanol facility with his company’s green methanol system, he said.
But once the system is in place, it can access carbon dioxide in plentiful supply.
“I discovered that ethanol plants are the motherload of biogenic CO2. You could get more of it in really clean form. And right now, they’re just throwing it away.”
Bonar said that to be a “green” in its efforts, his company relies on renewable energy sources for its carbon dioxide conversion to green methanol. That would typically require access to wind and solar, so it’s partnering right now with ethanol producers that have that availability nearby.
Its current project in Illinois uses nuclear power, something that isn’t available in many states.
