Re: Summation of Dr Olah's interview on Methanol

AKA Gray Asphalt wrote:


... I would like an answer though to my question: "What sources can be used to
produce methanol which can't be used to produce ethanol?" I realize that
that guy, Dr. Olah, who got me interested in this is the one who has the
answers, if he is indeed sincere an correct, but it will be a while until
his book arrives and I hoped someone here would already know.

It sounds as though Olah is so impressed with the ability of the
methanol fuel cells -- not batteries, it's true.
Batteries have fuel and oxidizer built in,
they don't suck in either from the outside world --
the ability of the methanol fuel cells he has devised or perhaps built
to run in reverse when electrical current is forced through them
the wrong way (so to speak), and anode becomes cathode,
and pulls CO2 out of the gas touching it, that he hasn't got over
the fact that this really isn't very useful.

The CO2 the fuel cell produced when it was discharging blew away.
No CO2 now is touching that electrode
except the atmosphere's abnormal 0.04 percent.

Unless the thing somehow *hangs onto* its CO2 as it makes it,
it will not be able to quickly acquire CO2 and make methanol of it,
even if fed plenty of electricity.

But I doubt anyone has made or devised an ethanol-producing electrode,
so Olah is probably right that methanol has that one production
method over ethanol.

I don't know if there are many methanol-economy enthusiasts
but would guess that if there are, most of them envision
large-scale efficient central capture of CO2 from air --
which I believe can be done -- and making it into methanol
by reaction with hydrogen, the hydrogen having been produced
by a thermal process such as the sulphur-iodine one.

Then distribute methanol, not electricity. Distributing electricity
and making methanol at many small plants seems bizarre,
even if there is an electrode that will do it.


--- G. R. L. Cowan, former hydrogen fan
"Boron: A Better Energy Carrier than Hydrogen?"
http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/Paper_for_11th_CHC.html

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Relevant Pages

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