Why Methanol

What is methanol?

Methanol (CH₃OH) is a widely used chemical that is produced across the globe. Methanol plays a role in agriculture, industry, pharmaceuticals, and more.^[1]“The Many Uses of Methanol from Clothing to Fuel: Products and Technology Highlights: Innovation.” Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. Accessed November 20, 2021. … Continue reading Like most other commonly used fuel sources, methanol is a hydrocarbon that can be used in an internal combustion engine to power machines.

Why methanol?

Methanol is a viable alternative to currently used marine fuels such as diesel, heavy fuel oil (HFO), and marine fuel oil (MFO) because of its environmental benefits. Methanol emits less sulfur oxides (SO_x), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), particulate matter (PM), and carbon dioxide (CO₂) than traditional marine fuels.^[3]“Methanol as a Marine Fuel | Methanex Corporation.” MethanEx. Accessed November 20, 2021. www.methanex.com/about-methanol/methanol-marine-fuel. SO_x, NO_x, and PM contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain, which are harmful to both human health and global ecosystems. CO₂ is the primary cause of global climate change, a crisis which is causing an increase in the severity of extreme weather events, rising sea levels, increasing average global temperatures, and other devastating impacts.

Methanol has potential to approach carbon neutrality when produced from renewably-sourced hydrogen gas (see “Green Methanol: Approaching Carbon Neutrality” below); this will further reduce the CO₂ emissions from global shipping. In the case of a methanol spill, the effects would be less detrimental than a similar-sized oil spill because, unlike oil, methanol is biodegradable.^[4]“Methanol as a Marine Fuel | Methanex Corporation.” MethanEx. Accessed November 20, 2021. www.methanex.com/about-methanol/methanol-marine-fuel.

With slight modifications, existing marine diesel engines can run on a combination of methanol and other fuels (for more information about retrofitting engines to run on methanol, see here). This dual-fuel technology will allow ships to run on traditional fuels while methanol infrastructure evolves, ensuring a transition to methanol fuel can begin even in the absence of methanol at every port. That said, eighty-eight out of the 100 busiest ports across the globe already have methanol available, and, since methanol is already being transported globally, there exist safety protocols that will ease the transition to methanol as a fuel source.^[5]“Methanol as a Marine Fuel | Methanex Corporation.” MethanEx. Accessed November 20, 2021. www.methanex.com/about-methanol/methanol-marine-fuel. 

Although methanol is not as energy dense as gasoline and diesel, it has a high energy density compared to other green fuels such as hydrogen gas, cooled liquid hydrogen, and many battery types, making it a desirable alternative fuel source.^[6]“The Many Uses of Methanol from Clothing to Fuel: Products and Technology Highlights: Innovation.” Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company, Inc. Accessed November 20, 2021. … Continue reading ^[7]“U.S. Energy Information Administration – EIA – Independent Statistics and Analysis.” Few transportation fuels surpass the energy densities of gasoline and diesel – Today in … Continue reading Energy density is defined as “the amount of energy that can be released by a given mass or volume of fuel,” and a high energy density is beneficial because it reduces the amount of space needed to store fuel on the ship.^[8]“Energy Density of Some Combustibles (in MJ/Kg).” The Geography of Transport Systems. Accessed November 20, 2021. … Continue reading Less space dedicated to fuel storage increases the capacity of a ship to transport freight. 

Overall, the environmental benefits of methanol fuel coupled with its ease of implementation make methanol an attractive alternative to traditional marine fuels.

Green Methanol: Approaching Carbon Neutrality

There are three main types of methanol: green methanol, blue methanol, and grey methanol.^[9]Martin, Abigail. “A Step Forward for ‘Green’ Methanol and Its Potential to Deliver Deep GHG Reductions in Maritime Shipping .” The International Council on Clean Transportation. Accessed … Continue reading Currently, the most economical and commonly used type of methanol is grey methanol, which is derived from fossil fuels.^[10]Martin, Abigail. “A Step Forward for ‘Green’ Methanol and Its Potential to Deliver Deep GHG Reductions in Maritime Shipping .” The International Council on Clean Transportation. Accessed … Continue reading Though less expensive, this method emits CO₂ via combustion of fossil fuels, increasing the environmental impact of grey methanol. Since green methanol releases the least amount of carbon in its entire production and usage (as seen in Figure 1 below), green methanol is the most desirable method of methanol production.^[11]Martin, Abigail. “A Step Forward for ‘Green’ Methanol and Its Potential to Deliver Deep GHG Reductions in Maritime Shipping .” The International Council on Clean Transportation. Accessed … Continue reading 
Green methanol has two subclasses: cellulosic bio-methanol and e-methanol. Cellulosic bio-methanol uses biomass as the source of the carbon and oxygen atoms in methanol’s chemical formula.^[12]Martin, Abigail. “A Step Forward for ‘Green’ Methanol and Its Potential to Deliver Deep GHG Reductions in Maritime Shipping .” The International Council on Clean Transportation. Accessed … Continue reading Using biomass ensures that carbon wastes are being recycled into the fuel.^[13]“Methanol from Biomass – NREL.” Accessed November 20, 2021. www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/old/5570r2.pdf. E-methanol uses carbon capturing for the carbon atoms and electrolysis for the hydrogen atoms.^[14]Martin, Abigail. “A Step Forward for ‘Green’ Methanol and Its Potential to Deliver Deep GHG Reductions in Maritime Shipping .” The International Council on Clean Transportation. Accessed … Continue reading This production does not create any additional net carbon emissions when synthesized from renewable sources since the carbon being used was already present.^[15]Martin, Abigail. “A Step Forward for ‘Green’ Methanol and Its Potential to Deliver Deep GHG Reductions in Maritime Shipping .” The International Council on Clean Transportation. Accessed … Continue reading

Implementing Green Methanol

One concern with methanol as an alternative fuel source is its high costs. Green methanol is still relatively expensive compared to fossil fuels and grey methanol because it is not as abundant: one estimate found that the cost of green methanol is around $643/metric ton, while grey methanol is only $417/metric ton and marine gas oil is around $600/metric ton.^[16]Martin, Abigail. “A Step Forward for ‘Green’ Methanol and Its Potential to Deliver Deep GHG Reductions in Maritime Shipping .” The International Council on Clean Transportation. Accessed … Continue reading However, this could be compensated by the fact that modifying existing ship engines to use methanol is less costly than other fuel sources, like liquefied natural gas (LNG), which would require more engine modifications.^[17]Martin, Abigail. “A Step Forward for ‘Green’ Methanol and Its Potential to Deliver Deep GHG Reductions in Maritime Shipping .” The International Council on Clean Transportation. Accessed … Continue reading (For more information about the comparison prices between methanol and LNG, see here.) In addition, like most new technologies, the costs of producing green methanol are expected to decline as production and demand for green methanol increases.