contary to popular belief.
Natural gas is the most economical and widely used feedstock for methanol production, other feedstocks can be used. Where natural gas is unavailable, light
petroleumproducts can be used in its place.
Methanol, also known as
methyl alcohol,
carbinol,
wood alcohol,
wood naphtha or
wood spirits, is a
chemical compound with chemical formulaCH3OH (often abbreviated MeOH). It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, poisonous liquid with a distinctive odor that is somewhat milder and sweeter than ethanol (ethyl alcohol). At room temperature it is a polar liquid and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol. It is also used for producing biodiesel via transesterification reaction. Methanol is produced naturally in the anaerobicmetabolism of many varieties of bacteria. As a result, there is a small fraction of methanol vapor in the atmosphere. Over the course of several days, atmospheric methanol is oxidized by oxygen with the help of sunlight to carbon dioxide and water. Methanol burns in air forming carbon dioxide and water:
It is now produced synthetically by a multi-step process:
natural gas and steam are reformed in a furnace to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide; then, hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases react under pressure in the presence of a catalyst.
An entire
methanol economy, based on methanol as a primary energy-storage medium and fuel, has been seriously proposed.
Found some interesting reading here on the methanol car. sounded promising but check the dates. not much has been done.
http://www.setamericafree.org/Rnichols.pdf
really interesting stuff
enjoy.
so the vegos can't claim that one anymore
Cheers
