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Methanol

Methanol--chemically CH₃OH--is a simple alcohol that is used primarily in the production of plastics and other chemicals.

Methanol can be cost-effectively produced with carbon capture and sequestration. The role for clean energy electrolysis is limited now but could expand in the future as the cost of clean energy goes down.

Current and Potential Status

As of 2019, world production is about 98 million tons of methanol as follows.

The image: "meoh_demand.svg" cannot be found!

Source: 1.

Most methanol today is produced from fossil fuels, natural gas and coal in particular.

The image: "meoh_production.svg" cannot be found!

Source: 1.

Methanol has the potential to play an important role in the larger energy system.

Potential Methanol Uses in the Energy System
RoleCurrent Mainstream OptionRationaleChallenges
Transportation fuel - direct usePetroleum-derived fuelsCan be blended into current gasoline stockLow volumetric and gravimetric density
Small devicesBatteries, petroleum-derived fuelsSimplicityLow efficiency
Synthetic hydrocarbonsPetroleum-based fuelsPotential low-carbon alternativeHigh cost

Potential expanded usage of methanol. Data sources for methanol as a transportation fuel 2 and direct methanol fuel cells for small devices 3, 4. See also our analysis of fuel density and synthetic fuels.

Cost of Production

The most common method of methanol production is steam methane reforming from natural gas 5. The following are estimates costs from different feedstocks.

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Source: IEA 6, 1.

The median cost of methanol from natural gas of $280/ton is equivalent to about $1.65 per gallon of gasoline.

Problem:
Emissions From Methanol Production
Solution:
Low-Carbon Methanol Plants

Environmental Impacts

Methods of producing methanol exhibit the following greenhouse gas emissions.

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Sources: Data et al. 7, Ellis and Svanberg 8, Energy Technology System Analysis Programme 9, and Qin et al. 10. Schlömer et al. 11 report the energy intensity of electricity. Emissions from gasoline, reported by the EPA 12, are shown for comparison.

Methanol is an energy carrier, not an energy source that is readily available from nature, and there is necessarily a loss when converting a primary energy source into methanol.

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Sources: Bromberg and Chen 13 and Dana et al. 7. Data from Building Energy Codes Program 14 is used to estimate the primary energy behind electricity.

Methanol as a Transportation Fuel

Like ethanol, methanol can be blended into the gasoline supply, with a maximum ratio of about 10% without requiring modification of engines of internal combustion vehicles 15. Furthermore, methanol and ethanol can be blended independently, forming gasoline-ethanol-methanol (GEM) fuels. Methanol blending into gasoline has become common in several countries, particularly China, where M15 (15% methanol blend) constituted 23% of all gasoline sold in the country in 2013 16.

Problem:
Negative Impacts of Gasoline
Solution:
Blend 5% Methanol Into the US Gas Supply
Problem:
Negative Impacts of Gasoline
Solution:
Replacing Gasoline with Methanol in Fleets
Problem:
Emissions From Diesel
Solution:
Dimethyl Ether

References

  1. IRENA and Methanol Institute. "Innovation Outlook : Renewable Methanol". International Renewable Energy Agency, Abu Dhabi. January 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Olah, G. "Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy". Angewandte Chemie International Edition 44(18). April 2005. ↩

  3. Ovidiu, P. "The Study of the Efficiency of a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell". Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering 7(2), pp. 31-34. October 2014. ↩

  4. Sajgure, M., Kachare, B., Gawhale, P., Waghmare, S., Jagadale, G. "Direct Methanol Fuel Cell: A Review". International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology, Special Issue 6, pp. 8-11. October 2016. ↩

  5. Alternative Fuels Data Center. "Methanol". Accessed September 9, 2019. ↩

  6. International Energy Agency. "The Future of Hydrogen: Seizing today's opportunities". June 2019. ↩

  7. Dana, A., Elishav, O., Bardow, A., Shter, G., Grader, G. "Nitrogen‐Based Fuels: A Power‐to‐Fuel‐to‐Power Analysis". Angewandte Chemie (International Ed. in English) 55(31), pp. 8798–8805. July 2016. ↩ ↩2

  8. Ellis, J., Svanberg, M. "Expected benefits, strategies, and implementation of methanol as a marine fuel for the smaller vessel fleet". SUMMETH – Sustainable Marine Methanol, Document Number D5.1. April 2018. ↩

  9. Energy Technology System Analysis Programme, International Renewable Energy Agency. "Production of Bio-Methanol". January 2013. ↩

  10. Qin, Z., Zhai. G,. Wu. X., Yu, Y., Zhang, Z. "Carbon footprint evaluation of coal-to-methanol chain with the hierarchical attribution management and life cycle assessment". Energy Conversion and Management 124, pp. 168-179. September 2016. ↩

  11. Schlömer S., T. Bruckner, L. Fulton, E. Hertwich, A. McKinnon, D. Perczyk, J. Roy, R. Schaeffer, R. Sims, P. Smith, and R. Wiser. Annex III: Technology-specific cost and performance parameters. In Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y. Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier, B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA. 2014. ↩

  12. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Results". Accessed June 11, 2019. ↩

  13. Bromberg, L., Cheng, W. "Methanol as an alternative transportation fuel in the US: Options for sustainable and/or energy-secure transportation". Sloan Automotive Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA 02139. November 2010. ↩

  14. Building Energy Codes Program. "Prototype Building Models High-rise Apartment". Building Technologies Office, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U. S. Department of Energy. April 2011. ↩

  15. Turner, J. W. G., Pearson, R. J., Dekker, E., Iosefa, B., Johansson, K., ac Bergström, K. "Extending the role of alcohols as transport fuels using iso-stoichiometric ternary blends of gasoline, ethanol and methanol". Applied Energy 102, pp. 72-86. February 2013. ↩

  16. Chan, T. "Methanol Fuel Blending In China". Methanol Institute. July 2019. ↩