Methanol economy gains ground with technology, market developments

A. ABAZAJIAN, Advisian, Houston, Texas The Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Dr. George Olah, and co-authors published a book in 2006 titled Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy.1 In it, the authors suggested a future economy in which methanol (Fig. 1) replaces crude-oil-based fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, transportation fuel, and raw material for a wide variety of hydrocarbon-based products. Fig. 1. Methanol ball-and-stick model. Versatility, reactivity and relatively low cost of production of methanol lay in the basis of this concept. Methanol can be made from a number of carbon-containing materials, both fossil (natural gas, crude oil or coal) and