ENGINEERING FOR CHANGE
Startup Sets Sights on Slashing Methane’s Global Impacts
Waste-to-energy conversion technology is unlocking new possibilities.
Written by Mercy C. Wanjiku Nduati
IN 2023, THE ENERGY SECTOR generated almost 130 million tons of methane emissions, according to the International Energy Agency. But when it comes to small, remote, or complex sites that are difficult or cost-prohibitive for traditional methane mitigation solutions, stakeholders are facing not only wasted potential energy and revenue but increasing pressure to act as well.
M2X Energy is offering one possible solution. The Rockledge, Fla.-based startup specializes in transforming wasted methane into clean fuel with the use of modular, containerized systems. The central aim of M2X’s solutions is to mitigate gas flaring and reduce methane emissions from various sources, such as oil recovery sites and landfills, by transforming waste gases into profitable products.
“Currently, a gas pretreatment plant is being built to focus on cleaning landfill gases before processing,” explained Williams Ibeh, a 2025 managing fellow with Engineering for Change (E4C) who recently worked on containerizing the syngas conditioning system for global deployment. “Additionally, multiple systems are in development, including syngas conditioning, gas pretreatment, and nitrogen removal systems.”
M2X employs proprietary technology that originated from a doctoral research project. “A specialized catalytic reactor is used to convert raw syngas into methanol. The project adopts a modular design approach, which allows for scalability and adaptability to different site needs, making it easier to scale and configure adjustments,” Ibeh said.
The company’s competitive advantage lies in its ability to scale down and deploy to smaller sites—a market often overlooked by larger competitors. The modular design approach allows for scalability and adaptability, making waste-to-energy conversion more economically viable for a broader market.
A scalable, modular technology makes converting waste methane into usable energy products more accessible. Photo: M2X Energy
Although M2X’s process is in a continuous state of development, with ongoing iterations and improvements to its design and fabrication processes based on feedback and operational data, the emphasis is on building a robust, infallible system rather than one that is theoretically perfect.
“This pioneering commercial-scale system has been successfully tested in Florida, which is also home to a newly established manufacturing plant for its production,” Ibeh added. M2X has 10,000 square feet of turnkey manufacturing space capable of constructing multiple systems in parallel.
Despite the company's distinct approach, M2X is working through multiple challenges, such as achieving 100 percent design completion and overcoming the constant pursuit of system improvement. The team is working toward closing the gap between current system performance and theoretical perfection.
M2X Energy Inc. is an end-to-end developer of modular, transportable gas-to-liquids systems that economically produce low-carbon methanol from stranded methane. Photo: M2X Energy
In 2024, M2X raised a $40 million Series B financing round to accelerate the in-house manufacturing and deployment of M2X’s first commercial fleet of low-carbon methanol production systems. This built upon multiple successful field deployments to prove out the company’s chemical process technology. M2X is actively sourcing biogas feedstocks to produce biomethanol as well.
“M2X Energy’s unique modular and mobile solution for capturing stranded methane gas and converting it into low-carbon methanol is now fully productized and proven after multiple successful commercial demonstrations in the field,” said David Danielson, managing director at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an existing Series A investor in M2X in a press statement. “By reducing methane emissions and displacing the use of high carbon intensity fuels and chemical feedstocks, M2X will strongly contribute to BEV’s mission of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”
MERCY C. WANJIKU NDUATI is an editorial fellow based in Nairobi, Kenya, with Engineering for Change, an online platform for innovators working to solve problems in sustainable global development. ASME is a founding partner of E4C.
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