Methanol is a commodity. Many influences effect the methanol price. The major influence though is the natural gas price (methane). As natural gas is the feedstock for fossil methanol. Gas price vary with oil prices, but not in equal percentage.

Bio-methanol will be made with biomass feedstock.  So it is obvious to compare biomass with natural gas prices. And so here we must explain somewhat more about biomass.

Wood chips, corn, potatoes, wheat and sugar cane are biomasses. We call this G1. G1 is biomass that is grown on soil, that also could have produce food for humans. It is discussed that this G1 although it is biomass is not a great contribution to the reduction of CO2 emission. Fertilizer and other fossil adds are used to let the biomass grow and at the same time prices of food rises for the poorest persons on earth as their production competes with the growing of food. G2 is defined as biomass that is not suitable for consumption of humans or animals. Like chaff what is left of the wheat after the crop. Or manure of animals like chicken, pork and cows.

In general the prices of G1 biomass are higher than their equivalent of natural gas. Meaning that their use is only financial attractive if their use is subsidized.  In the Netherlands wood chips are imported from Canada and highly subsidized by the government to be used in coal electricity to comply with international commitments of CO2 reduction.

G2 is sometimes even more expensive than G1 as logistic and processing of the biomass is costly.  G2 contains a lot of water that has to been removed for their use. (Either at the plant after the logistic operation or before at an extra site to remove the water out of the biomass.)  The initial value of G2 biomass is sometimes negative, but after removal of the water and the logistic operation the G2 feedstock is often not inexpensive in relation to G1. As the OPEX is more costly and the CAPEX is higher for use of G2 it is obvious that G2 will be used in later phase of the marketing of the bio-methanol plant of Bio Power Skid. BPS will use woodchips or bio-oil in the early phase of the operation. Later manure and other G2 will be explored.