Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
this implies therefore room for methanol and synthetic diesel”
(Olofsson, 2012).
Further, the production of methanol from biomass gasification may
turn out to be an evolutionary stepping-stone to a “fourth” generation
technology. In his seminal text “Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol
Economy” (Olah, 2006), the Nobel Prize Laureate Dr George A. Olah of
the University of Southern California argues that we may soon recycle
atmospheric carbon dioxide using catalytic and electrochemical methods
to produce liquid methanol. As Dr. Olah states, “It should be emphasized
that the 'Methanol Economy' is not producing energy. In the form of
liquid methanol, it only stores energy more conveniently and safely
compared to extremely difficult to handle and highly volatile hydrogen
gas, the basis of the 'hydrogen economy'. Besides being a most conve-
nient energy storage material and a suitable transportation fuel, methanol
can also be catalytically converted to ethylene and/or propylene, the
building blocks of synthetic hydrocarbons and their products, which are
currently obtained from our diminishing oil and gas resources.”
This is an important point, as the petrochemical industry has grown
hand in hand with the petroleum industry for good and bad. Methanol is
a basic building block for hundreds of chemical commodities such as
formaldehyde and acetic acid used in products ranging from building
materials and plastics to paints, adhesives, and solvents. We even color
methanol blue for the windshield wash fluid in your car today.
As a chemical building block, methanol is a key component of
hundreds of products that touch our daily lives. The largest global market
for methanol is as a feedstock for the production of formaldehyde.
Engineered woods used in building our homes and furniture are bonded
with resins produced from formaldehyde. In our cars, urethanes and
plastics used in essential components also contain formaldehyde. Meth-
anol is also used in the production of acetic acid, which then is used for
making polyethylene teraphthalate (PET) plastic used in beverage
packaging. Acetic acid is the basic component of terapthalic acid
(PTA), which is used in making polyester fiber for our clothing and
carpets. Vinyl acetage monomer (VAM) is also produced for acetic acid
and is used in the manufacture of water-based paints and adhesives. On a
global basis, the fuel additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) is still
