Among biofuels, which is the best: methanol, ethanol, or butanol?
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In the 1990s, some people advocated using methanol blended into gasoline, as the price of methanol was around 2,500 yuan per ton, while ethanol cost 5,000 yuan per ton at that time; therefore, methanol seemed to be the best alternative to petroleum. However, this idea was not adopted, mainly for the following reasons: 1. Methanol is toxic, and there are issues related to its storage； 2. Methanol is extracted from coal and is not a renewable resource. Ultimately, in 2001, **fuel ethanol was supported. Now, biofuel butanol has been proposed as well – the innovations really keep coming. As far as I know, CNOOC is the entity that has proposed butanol and is committed to its development; it is as prominent as Sinopec and CNPC and possesses strong capabilities, having already established a project team. Let’s discuss what the future direction of biofuels (renewable) will be, amid the threat of global food shortages in the years to come
From a fuel perspective, butanol has the most similar properties to gasoline and can be used directly without mixing, whereas ethanol can currently be used at a maximum of 15% in E85 mixtures.
Butanol is definitely the best choice. Firstly, it has lower water absorption, making it easier to store; it can be mixed with gasoline in any proportion. As a fuel, it allows for similar mileage compared to gasoline. The only drawback is that butanol currently doesn’t have a significant price advantage.
Butanol is good; the issue is that its production method still lags behind that of ethanol, so it simply doesn’t offer good value for money
It should be butanol; it has the lowest oxygen content
In terms of raw material supply and production costs, methanol is the more ideal choice; although its calorific value is slightly lower, its cost is low and its output is high. Ethanol is too expensive, while butanol is in short supply. Although butanol has good properties, there has been a supply and demand shortage for it for a long time.
Butanol! Of course, ether is good too!
Methanol is the best; it is more useful as a chemical raw material than the other two~~~
Without appropriate subsidies for fuel ethanol, the cost of adding ethanol to gasoline makes such an approach not entirely viable. To be honest, although butanol is more expensive, ethanol does not necessarily have an advantage in terms of the amount of grain required to cover the same distance when used for transportation. Fermentation of bio-butanol seems to hold better prospects than that of ethanol. When butanol is produced from cellulose-based materials, ethanol’s disadvantages become even greater. Currently, there are no yeast strains capable of effectively utilizing pentoses for ethanol production, whereas the clostridia used in butanol fermentation can directly ferment pentoses; relevant literature on this topic can be found in many sources. It is recommended to consult studies on bio-butanol fermentation in order to compare the processes of ethanol and butanol fermentation – in my opinion, butanol has clear advantages.
Firstly, it is inappropriate to classify methanol as a biological raw material. In terms of raw material supply, methanol produced from natural gas and coal is available everywhere, giving it the greatest competitive advantage ； **The restriction on using grain for ethanol production means that large-scale use of ethanol as a fuel is unlikely. Butanol has the highest carbon content, and therefore should have the highest calorific value as well as better combustion properties; however, its production is not as simple and scalable as that of methanol, and its price is also higher. Therefore, methanol has significant advantages.
Methanol should be the most ideal choice; firstly, it is inexpensive, China is rich in coal, and the technology for producing methanol from coal is already industrialized. Ethanol must be produced from grains, which is not cost-effective; butanol is even more expensive.
Based on current applications, ethanol holds promising market prospects. Brazil, the world’s largest producer of fuel ethanol, uses ethanol engines almost entirely, thereby reducing its reliance on oil.
At present, the best option is not methanol, ethanol, butanol, or dimethyl ether – it is dimethoxymethane. It is the product of the dehydration of two methanol molecules; it has the best combustion properties, as well as the most favorable physical properties such as volatility. Next, let’s discuss the source of its raw material, methanol. Methanol can be produced from syngas, which can come either from coal gasification or natural gas. It should be noted, however, that not all natural gases can be used to produce methanol.
Theoretically, butanol is better, but it seems that biomass is now being used to extract isopentanol. I wonder how is isopentanol?