Editor's Note:
During an inspection tour in Songyuan, Academician Ding Zhongli, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, mentioned Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy by Nobel Laureate George A. Olah. Yang Jing, Vice President of CNTY, read the book and wrote this article, drawing on the company's integrated project in Songyuan, which is designed to produce 600,000 tonnes of green methanol annually. The article cross-references the book's insights with Songyuan's green molecules, elucidating the strategic value of methanol as an energy carrier and the underlying logic of transforming resource advantages into development advantages. We are pleased to post it for our readers.
Recently, Academician Ding Zhongli visited Songyuan. Ding has long been engaged in research on carbon cycling and climate change, with deep insights into energy transition. During exchanges at the project site, he mentioned Professor George A. Olah's book, Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy. I took advantage of the holiday to read it carefully, and was deeply impressed.
A truly enduring book is not one that predicts the future, but one that still explains reality when that future arrives. The Methanol Economy is precisely such a book. Published two decades ago, it reads like a roadmap for today's global green energy transition. As the world pushes forward with green and low-carbon development, many of its ideas have not only held up but have grown even more prescient and relevant.
The history of human civilization is, at its core, a history of ever-upgrading energy use. From firewood to coal, from coal to oil – each energy revolution has profoundly transformed production methods and social structures, reshaping the global economic landscape. Today, against the backdrop of combating climate change and advancing green development, green energy is ushering in a new era.
For a long time, the global energy system has rested on coal, oil, and gas. This system powered industrial civilization and generated immense material wealth. Yet at the same time, resource constraints, environmental pressures, and climate change have become increasingly acute. How to meet the needs of economic and social development while achieving a green and low-carbon transition has become a critical challenge for the world.
Professor Olah argues that the future energy revolution is not just about changing energy sources, but about changing energy carriers. In his view, while hydrogen is an ideal clean energy source, its storage, transportation, and large-scale application still face high costs. Methanol, by contrast – a liquid fuel that can be stored and transported at room temperature and pressure – can effectively address the challenges of large-scale renewable energy integration and cross-regional transport. Electricity generated from wind and solar power can be used to electrolyze water into hydrogen, which is then combined with carbon dioxide to synthesize methanol, transforming otherwise difficult-to-store green electricity into a transportable and utilizable green fuel.
If electricity solves the problem of energy production, then methanol solves the problem of energy storage and transport. Whoever can convert green electricity into a storable, tradable, and globally distributable energy product holds a vital card in future energy competition. In this sense, methanol is not just a chemical product, but a crucial link between energy producers and consumers.
One idea in the book left a particularly strong impression on me: carbon dioxide should not be seen as waste, but as a resource. In the past, we treated carbon emissions as the end of the line. In the methanol economy, however, carbon emissions become a new starting point. Captured and utilized, CO₂ is converted back into methanol, which then re-enters industrial production and transportation, forming a closed-loop carbon cycle.
Once we saw CO₂ as the cost of development, in the future we will see it as a resource for development. Turning emissions into feedstocks, and burdens into wealth – that is the deeper logic of green development. A truly advanced industrial civilization is not one without carbon, but one that can put carbon to work in a cycle.
Looking at the Songyuan project, the integrated facility we are building aligns remarkably well with the future energy landscape Professor Olah envisioned. Songyuan is rich in wind, biomass, and water resources. Through wind power generation, water electrolysis, CO₂ capture, and e-methanol synthesis, the project transforms natural resources into green energy, and further into industrial and developmental strengths.
Songyuan's greatest resource is not wind, nor sunlight, but the ability to turn wind and sunlight into green productivity. Only through technological innovation and industrial organization can resource advantages be truly converted into development advantages. In this sense, what we are building is not just a set of chemical plants, but a new model of energy production and industrial development.
Today, global markets for green shipping, green aviation fuels, and green chemical feedstocks are taking shape rapidly. European demand for green fuels, in particular, continues to grow, and green methanol is moving from the lab to large-scale commercial application. A growing number of international shipping companies are ordering methanol-powered vessels, and more countries are incorporating green methanol into their energy transition strategies.
What the international market buys today is no longer just methanol itself, but the green electricity, green certification, and green value behind it. Green methanol is becoming a vital link connecting renewable energy, modern chemicals, and international trade. For Songyuan, this is both an opportunity and a responsibility. Western Jilin is rich in wind and solar resources, providing a solid foundation for developing the green energy industry. Promoting the green hydrogen-ammonia-methanol industry will not only help integrate renewable energy and cultivate new quality productive forces, but also accelerate the transformation of resource advantages into industrial advantages, injecting new growth momentum into the full revitalization of Northeast China.
My greatest takeaway from reading the book is that energy revolution is never just about technological progress, it is a profound transformation of development models. Every wind turbine and every hydrogen production and synthesis unit we build today serves not only the present, but also helps shape the energy system of the future. The competition ahead is not about who has more resources, but who can turn resources into higher-quality development.
Moving from the fossil fuel era to the green energy era changes not just the energy mix, but the very logic of development. Green methanol may not be the final destination, but it is very likely a vital bridge to the future. For Songyuan, advancing the green hydrogen-ammonia-methanol industry is not just about cultivating new growth poles, it is about building momentum for the comprehensive revitalization of Northeast China in the new era.
Looking back through history, every energy revolution has given rise to new industries, new cities, and new opportunities. Coal powered the industrial age; oil shaped modern civilization; and green energy is now opening a new chapter for the future. Perhaps many years from now, when we look back, what we built in Songyuan will be remembered not just as a green methanol plant, but as the place where, in a city that rose on oil, we witnessed one era give way to another.
This article was originally published in Songyuan Daily, June 23, 2026, Page 3. The author is Yang Jing. http://szb.syxww.cn/html/szbz/20260623/szbz87140.Html
