As we are 2 months in new year, our CEO, Patrik Molander, shares his reflections on the past year and his hopes for future.
It’s been an exciting year for Enmar Engines AB, what were the highlights?
After a decade of research and various development projects, we are happy to enjoy results of dedicated work past few years. As we finished off 2022 with a new workshop and all work that goes with moving a manufacturing facility, we are celebrating highlights of 2023. Along with exciting design projects and record sales, we are most proud of launching new products, the EU Stage V industrial engine, and the dual fuel conversion kit. Both has been in-house development projects for a long time and something that once seemed a distant goal, is now a product.
Although methanol has been around for decades, it is still considered alternative fuel. Are there events on global market that point out how methanol is getting more relevant in future?
Absolutely. On top of usual arguments against oil such as unstable and high prices and its devastating environmental impact, we can see important stake holders in industry recognizing specifically methanol as solution. One great example is world’s biggest shipping company Maersk that just recently launched the first of its 18 large methanol-enabled vessels currently on order. When a stakeholder of that impact within shipping industry makes a decision like that, it also sets standard for their competitors. In turn, there will be no choice but to further develop infrastructure and scale up availability of methanol on global level. When it comes to methanol usage, exciting times truly are now, and continuing.
Environmental requirements in shipping industry are getting stricter each year. How does methanol fit in the picture of meeting IMO goals?
IMO set sustainability target of 50% absolute reduction of CO2 emissions by 2050. From that statement alone it is obvious a dramatic change in how we design, move goods and build ships has to happen. Methanol combustion beats oil in all categories – lower emissions of sulphur oxides, particulate matter and nitrogen oxides. It can be produced from variety of feedstock, number of them being renewable sources such as biomass. When it comes to shipping, it is important that methanol is biodegradable, and spillage is not hazardous for ocean environment. This makes it possible to store in double bottom tanks, which often balances out somewhat lower energy density compared to oil.
Enmar Engines focus is manufacturing methanol powered engines, but company invests major resources in further development. What are latest updates? That’s correct – as we have a constant load on our production line and meeting our costumer’s expectations is our top priority, we also have ongoing development of our products. We constantly strive to optimize our components. This dedicated work over time surely results with gains, and recently we were very happy to meet environmental tests of our engines continuing the process of obtaining EGR Stage V, and of course, launching the dual fuel conversion kit. Enmar Engines truly is a link between cutting edge research and industry application of latest technologies and breakthrough knowledge. We are excited to see where this journey takes us in the future!
