tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31086848.post4770411643696375249..comments2023-11-20T13:45:09.865-05:00Comments on Oil, be Seeing You: The Hydrogen MythRichard Embletonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17461790218807222949noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31086848.post-91866761416878206192007-08-29T12:28:00.000-04:002007-08-29T12:28:00.000-04:00I also forgot to add that Methanol has a very narr...I also forgot to add that Methanol has a very narrow range of ignition temperatures. This means that pure methanol engines are difficult to start at low temperatures, a definite problem and concern from my Canadian perspective. To be used in a climate like Canada's, it would have to be blended with a fuel like gasoline or diesel to be practical across the wide range of temperatures we experience in this country. This, of course, can be done but it perpetuates the link to and reliance on fossil fuels.<BR/>Richard EmbletonRichard Embletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17461790218807222949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31086848.post-55575258642100821722007-08-29T08:11:00.000-04:002007-08-29T08:11:00.000-04:00I would strongly disagree about the options. The ...I would strongly disagree about the options. The one option (and really the only viable option long-term) that never seems to be put on the table is to begin the process of powering down and learning to live with less energy and within the sustainable energy budget of the planet. As long as we continue to exceed that planetary energy budget we are not living sustainably and inexorably moving toward collapse.<BR/><BR/>Methanol is not the energy panacea that some people choose to portray it as. The core of their argument is the "poor us" lament that the devious forces pushing corn ethanol have unfairly pushed methanol out of the running. The reality is that it has its problems and limitations. I do not intend this list to be exhaustive, rather indicative of the obstacles to methanol.<BR/><BR/>1. Methanol has a number of significant safety issues:<BR/> a) It is poisonous (can cause significant brain damage, a problem too common in certain communities where methanol is sniffed as a drug or even drunk as an alternative to alcohol) and needs significant precautions to be taken for those handling it on a regular basis.<BR/> b) It is highly combustible and the smokeless flame it produces in combustion is invisible and odorless meaning that a significant blaze can be initiated before it is clear there is a fire. Offsetting this is that it is extinguishable with water wherein it's energy is spent and disipated boiling the water. This danger can also be offset by blending it with gasoline which causes it to burn yellow and produce grey smoke.<BR/> c) It is highly corrosive of containment vessels, gaskets, valves and other equipment with which it is in regular contact. Containment breaches are common and when it escapes from underground storage, because of its ease of mixing with water, it will quickly contaminate grounwater systems.<BR/>2. Gasoline has a 70% higher energy density than methanol. To be used as a replacement for gasoline it would need double the delivery and storage infrastructure of gasoline or diesel.<BR/>3. To date almost all methanol has been produced from natural gas, a resource that is as finite as oil and already in decline in many areas such as North America. Although it can be, and originally was, produced from wood (also from coal and raw methane such as that sequestered as methane hydrates) these alternatives present significant scaleability problems. To revert to wood would put further pressure on our already diminished forests which will be vital to future survivability.<BR/>4. Although flex-fuel vehicles can use methanol fuels as readilly as ethanol fuels, these vehicles need significant (though not complex) retrofitting because of the highly corrosive effect on conventional flex-fuel equipment.<BR/>5. Because of the critical and seemingly unavoidable need for multiple stages of catalysis in the production of methanol (using complex alloys of declining metals such as copper, zinc, nickel and platinum) methane production does not lend itself to small scale local and personal production as is possible with ethanol and bio-diesel. This, therefore, continues reliance on a viable manufacturing society in order to accomodate centralized production and an extensive distribution system.<BR/>6. The preponderance of the research and development efforts around methanol are not for using methanol as a combustible fuel but rather for use in DMFCs (Direct Methane Fuel Cells). Though suitable for cars (Ballard, for one, have produced produced prototypes of DMFCs for vehicles) most of this effort seems to be aimed at electronics like lap-top computers and cell phones.<BR/>7. Combustion of methanol, or the catalysis of it in DMFCs does not eliminate the greenhouse gas problem of gasoline as one of the primary bi-products is CO2.<BR/><BR/>There is no question that the main obstacle to date for methanol has been the corn-ethanol lobby. Amongst others, major roll-outs of methanol as a transportation fuel were blocked in both California and Brazil. The constant focus on the uneven playing field and the unfair lobby tactics simply serve to deflect attention away from the problems and limitations that methanol would have. Like hydrogen, it remains an energy option of the future though, in my opinion, a far more viable future option than hydrogen.<BR/>Richard EmbletonRichard Embletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17461790218807222949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31086848.post-91295975546796941182007-08-28T01:40:00.000-04:002007-08-28T01:40:00.000-04:00Great article Richard - I agree. Enormous expendit...Great article Richard - I agree. <BR/><BR/>Enormous expenditure required for Hydrogen infrastructure. <BR/><BR/>The reasonable thing to do is, according to Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry George Olah, is to look closely at Methanol.<BR/><BR/>http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Oil-Gas-Methanol-Economy/dp/3527312757Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com