Can Methanol Really Make a Dent in US Oil Demand?
by John Lynn (Energy Tribune) … Methanol can be produced from a wide variety of feedstocks, including natural gas, coal, biomass, and even atmospheric carbon dioxide. … Using mature gasification technology, one ton of biomass can be used to produce 165 gallons of methanol. The production of 10 billion gallons of methanol would require, 60 million tons of biomass, or less than 5% of the biomass production potential.
The technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from chemical and power plants – and even the atmosphere – for methanol production is now moving from the lab to the pilot plant scale, and is expected to reach commercial market introduction quickly. In a carbon constrained world economy, methanol could be the solution. Not only can methanol be used directly as a vehicle fuel, it also can be used to produce gasoline (through processes developed by Exxon Mobil and others), as well as in the manufacture of important gasoline components such as olefins. READ MORE
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