Dr. Sangeeta Srivastava
Co-Chairperson, IFGE: SBF & Executive Director, Godavari Biorefineries Ltd
Godavari Biorefineries Pilots CO₂-to-Renewable DME Technology with ICT Mumbai
When we talk about India’s ethanol programme, the conversation usually centres on fuel blending, energy security and farmer incomes. Those achievements are significant. Yet another opportunity is emerging within every ethanol distillery.
Every time sugar is fermented to produce ethanol, substantial quantities of carbon dioxide are released. Traditionally, this biogenic CO₂ has been treated as a by-product. Today, the question is different: can this renewable carbon become a valuable feedstock for the next generation of clean fuels?
At Godavari Biorefineries Ltd. (GBL), we have taken an important step toward answering that question. We have commissioned a pilot plant to convert fermentation-derived biogenic CO₂ into renewable Dimethyl Ether (DME) using green hydrogen. This pilot has been established in collaboration with the Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT), Mumbai, one of India’s leading institutions in chemical engineering and catalysis research.
Professor G.D. Yadav, Padma Shri awardee, Bhatnagar Fellow, and former Vice Chancellor of ICT Mumbai, is the Principal Investigator from ICT and brings with him an exceptional record of scientific innovation.
This is no longer merely a laboratory concept. The pilot facility has been installed and commissioned, and testing has commenced using actual fermentation-derived CO₂. We are now entering the most important phase of technology development: optimising catalyst performance, validating process stability, and generating engineering data for scale-up.
Successful commercialisation requires complementary expertise.
An industrial partner understands continuous plant operation, feedstock variability, reliability, safety, and economics. An academic institution contributes deep expertise in catalyst design, reaction engineering, thermodynamics, and process intensification.
This project brings these strengths together. GBL and ICT Mumbai are jointly evaluating an innovative, single-step catalytic process that converts carbon dioxide and hydrogen directly into DME.
The collaboration received the prestigious K.V. Mariwala Award for Effective Chemical Industry-Academia Partnership 2025, recognising both the scientific innovation and translational approach adopted by the partners.
Recognition is encouraging, but the true measure of success will be sustained performance under real industrial operating conditions.
Professor G.D. Yadav aptly summarises the broader significance of this work:
“The transition to a sustainable future requires us to view carbon dioxide not as a waste product, but as a valuable renewable carbon resource. This pilot project represents an important step in demonstrating how science, engineering and industry can work together to transform biogenic CO₂ into clean fuels such as dimethyl ether. If successful, this technology has the potential to strengthen India’s circular bioeconomy, enhance energy security and create greater value from the sugar and ethanol industries.”
Construction and commissioning of the pilot facility have been completed. The current phase focuses on catalyst evaluation under realistic operating conditions.
Carbon dioxide hydrogenation presents several scientific and engineering challenges. Water is formed as a reaction product, trace impurities may accompany fermentation-derived CO₂, and the process operates under elevated pressure and temperature.
The central objective of the pilot is, therefore, straightforward: to determine whether the catalyst can maintain high activity, selectivity, and stability over extended operating periods while delivering consistent DME production.
Commercial deployment will depend on three factors:
Looking ahead, green hydrogen will be a critical enabler for wider deployment of renewable DME and other carbon utilisation pathways.
At GBL, hydrogen generated in situ as a co-product of certain dehydrogenation processes also presents opportunities for further resource valorisation. As these technologies mature, integrating renewable hydrogen with biogenic carbon has the potential to move beyond net-zero ambitions towards net-negative carbon outcomes.
Until these milestones are achieved, commercial implementation should be regarded as a future opportunity rather than a committed business plan.
This represents GBL’s current position on the project.
One advantage of this technology is that the principal carbon feedstock already exists within ethanol plants.
The CO₂ generated during fermentation is biogenic carbon. Sugarcane absorbs atmospheric carbon dioxide during growth, which is subsequently released during ethanol production. Instead of venting this renewable carbon back into the atmosphere, we are exploring ways to convert it into an additional renewable fuel.
At our integrated biorefinery, fermentation generates approximately 600 tonnes of CO₂ per day.
Based on reaction stoichiometry, this quantity could theoretically support production of nearly 200 tonnes per day of renewable DME at commercial scale.
Actual production will depend upon catalyst performance, reactor design, heat management, hydrogen availability, and overall process efficiency and economics.
DME is attracting increasing global interest as a clean energy carrier.
It burns without sulphur emissions, produces extremely low particulate matter and significantly lower soot than conventional diesel, making it attractive for heavy-duty transportation, agricultural equipment, and stationary power generation.
DME also offers an important infrastructure advantage. It liquefies at approximately 5 bar, similar to LPG, allowing much of the existing LPG storage, transportation, and distribution infrastructure to be utilised with relatively modest modifications.
It can also be blended with LPG, providing a pathway for gradual market adoption while reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels.
With a volumetric energy density of approximately 21 MJ/L, DME is also an attractive renewable energy carrier.
Conventionally, DME is manufactured in two separate steps. Carbon dioxide is first converted into methanol, which is subsequently dehydrated to produce DME.
The technology being evaluated by GBL and ICT Mumbai integrates both reactions into a single catalytic reactor.
Carbon dioxide and hydrogen are simultaneously converted to methanol, which is immediately dehydrated to DME over the acidic component of a bi-functional catalyst.
Because methanol is consumed as soon as it forms, chemical equilibrium is shifted towards greater overall conversion.
This integrated approach has the potential to simplify plant design, reduce capital costs, and improve process efficiency.
The principal technical challenge remains catalyst durability in the presence of water, making long-term pilot operation essential before any commercial decisions are taken.
India today operates more than 400 ethanol distilleries, most of which currently vent fermentation-derived CO₂.
If carbon utilisation technologies become technically and economically viable, they could transform these facilities into integrated renewable carbon biorefineries producing fuels, chemicals, energy and other value-added products from the same agricultural feedstock.
Such an approach aligns closely with India’s BioE3 Mission, circular economy principles, and the national vision of converting waste into wealth while creating greater value addition in rural areas.
Nevertheless, engineering reality must guide commercial decisions.
Reliable catalyst performance, affordable green hydrogen, robust process economics and compliance with fuel quality specifications remain essential prerequisites for large-scale deployment.
Our immediate objective is clear: operate the pilot plant, collect high-quality engineering data, and continue improving catalyst and process performance.
If the technology demonstrates sustained technical and economic viability, it could provide a new pathway for integrating carbon utilisation into India’s expanding bio-based manufacturing ecosystem.
Renewable DME is not intended to replace ethanol. Rather, it has the potential to complement ethanol, broadening the portfolio of renewable fuels and renewable carbon-based products derived from agricultural biomass.
India’s energy transition will be achieved not through a single technology, but through a portfolio of innovations that make better use of domestic renewable resources.
The project represents one of India’s first integrated demonstrations of direct catalytic conversion of fermentation-derived biogenic CO₂ into renewable DME, bringing together industrial biotechnology, heterogeneous catalysis and process engineering in a single circular carbon platform.
Source:- IFGE
