The Energy Evolution - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 12

METHANOL AND ETHANOL PRODUCTION
In the 1920s the catalytic synthesis of methanol was commercialized
in Germany. Even before that, methane was distilled from wood, but this
pyrolysis of wood was relatively inefficient.
Ethanol saw several spikes of popularity during the last century, no-
tably during the world wars when petroleum demand soared. In more re-
cent decades, the use of alcohol fuels has seen rapid development.
The use of MTBE occurred quickly after the first MTBE plant was
built in Italy in 1973. Its use then spread through Europe and by 1980,
Europe was producing almost 90 million gallons per year. This reached
300 million gallons per year by the end of 1990. In the U.S. MTBE produc-
tion began in the early 1980s and reached more than a billion gallons by
1987.
Methanol and ethanol are alcohol fuels that can be produced from
various renewable sources. Alcohol fuels are converted from biomass or
other feedstocks using one or several conversion techniques. Both govern-
ment and private research programs are finding more effective, less costly
methods of converting biomass to alcohol fuels. Methanol was originally
a by-product of charcoal production, but today it is primarily produced
from natural gas and can also be made from biomass and coal.
When methanol is made from natural gas, the gas reacts with steam to
produce synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This
then reacts with a catalytic substance at high temperatures and pressures to
produce methanol. The process is similar when methanol is produced by
the gasification of biomass. The production of methanol from biomass or
coal can cost almost twice as much as production from natural gas.
Most of the ethanol in the United States has been made from fer-
menting corn. Dry-milling or wet-milling can be used. In dry-milling,
the grain is milled without any separation of its components. The grain
is mashed and the starch in the mash is converted to sugar and then to
alcohol with yeast. In wet-milling, the corn is first separated into its ma-
jor components, the germ, oil, fiber, gluten and starch. The starch is then
converted into ethanol. This process produces useful by-products such as
corn gluten feed and meal. The only other country with a significant pro-
duction of ethanol is Brazil which makes its fuel from sugar cane.
Considering the full production cycle, methanol from biomass emits
less carbon dioxide than ethanol from biomass. This is because short rota-
tion forestry, the feedstocks of methanol, requires the use of less fertilizer