Calls for the legalization of methanol gasoline are growing louder 《Reposted》

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At the 2008 annual meeting of the Alcohols and Ethers Special Committee, as well as the first national conference on alcohols and ethers fuels and clean vehicle technologies held not long ago, Gu Xiulian, former vice chairperson of the National **** Association, Li Yongwu, president of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association, Ni Weidou, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and others all stated that relevant authorities should, from the perspective of energy strategy and the healthy development of the coal chemical industry, establish standards for methanol gasoline as soon as possible, regulate the market, increase efforts to promote clean alternative energies such as methanol gasoline, and thus foster the sustainable and healthy development of China’s alcohols and ethers as well as coal chemical industries. 　　The Petrochemical Industry Office of Shaanxi Province also devoted considerable space in its \"Report on the Sustainable Development of Shaanxi’s Energy and Chemical Industry\" submitted to the relevant authorities in Shaanxi Province to discussing the urgency, necessity, and importance of promoting methanol gasoline, calling on those authorities to accelerate its adoption within the province. 　　“It is hoped that the **relevant authorities will establish standards for methanol gasoline as soon as possible**; this is the most practical and effective way to help China’s alcohol-ether enterprises at present. ”On December 19, Gao Qingfu, deputy general manager of Shaanxi Yulin Natural Gas Chemical Co., Ltd., told reporters. Gao Qingfu said that due to the global financial crisis and the sharp drop in international oil prices, domestic prices of alcohols and ethers have been falling continuously since September. Currently, the ex-factory price of methanol across various regions is generally only 1,600–1,900 yuan per ton, while the ex-factory price of dimethyl ether is only 2,900–3,200 yuan per ton. These prices are more than 300 yuan lower than the production costs for these chemicals, which has led to over 60% of methanol manufacturers shutting down operations. The operating rate of dimethyl ether manufacturers is only 20%, and the entire industry is facing unprecedented difficulties. Under these circumstances, expanding demand is undoubtedly the best way to resolve the crisis in the alcohol ether industry. Since markets for methanol’s main downstream applications such as dimethyl ether, acetic acid, formaldehyde, and methyl tert-butyl ether continue to shrink, this does not provide sufficient support for an increase in demand and prices for methanol. As for another potential major market for methanol – the production of low-carbon olefins via DMTO – although technical breakthroughs have been achieved and pilot tests have been successful, scaling up this process for industrial use has not yet been realized. Therefore, under the current circumstances, establishing the **standards for M15 and M85 methanol gasoline as soon as possible, and promoting its use in provinces and regions that have the necessary conditions, is the best way to increase demand for methanol, prevent further price drops, boost market confidence, and save methanol ether enterprises and the related industry. 　　Ye Guanghua, manager of the marketing department at Yunnan Yunwei Group, and Zhang Lilin, manager of the sales department at Inner Mongolia Tianhe Chemical Co., Ltd., believe that given the current relative surplus in methanol production capacity in China and the ongoing decline in prices of refined oil products, even if standards for methanol gasoline are introduced, it is unlikely that domestic demand for methanol will increase immediately, let alone that the alcohol-ether market will recover right away. However, once the standards are established and methanol gasoline gains legal status and is promoted for use, it will undoubtedly significantly reduce companies’ transportation costs and sales pressures, while avoiding market fluctuations caused by imbalances in supply and demand between different regions. Since methanol production enterprises in our country are concentrated in the northwest, north China, northeast China, and the Central Plains regions, while the consumption markets are located in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta areas, the cost of transportation alone can range from 400 to 800 yuan per ton. If standards for methanol gasoline are established to facilitate its adoption and use, many methanol production companies in the north will be able to sell their product locally, thereby reducing transportation costs. When methanol from the north stops flowing southward, the reduced supply of methanol in the southeast market will drive up local methanol prices, which in turn will raise methanol prices across the country, helping methanol-ether manufacturers overcome their difficulties. 　　China began research on methanol-powered vehicles during the Sixth Five-Year Plan period, and as of August this year, nine provinces including Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Liaoning, and Sichuan have launched pilot projects for methanol gasoline. In Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province alone, there are over 40 gas stations that offer methanol gasoline, and in the first 10 months of this year, the consumption of methanol gasoline in Shanxi Province exceeded 180,000 tons. To promote the use of methanol-based gasoline, provinces such as Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Heilongjiang have issued 8 provincial-level local standards, including \"Methanol as a Vehicle Fuel\" and \"M15 Methanol-Based Gasoline for Vehicles\". 　　“However, due to the unclear policies and attitudes toward the promotion of methanol gasoline at the regulatory level, as well as the delayed establishment of standards for it, methanol gasoline has not yet been able to be promoted and adopted. ”Hu Haifeng, deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Petrochemical Industry Office, said helplessly. Hu Haifeng said that with international oil prices currently falling sharply, the cost advantage of methanol gasoline is not as significant as it was when oil prices were high. Additionally, the major domestic oil companies have high inventories of refined oil products, which creates considerable sales pressure; as a result, the introduction of standards for methanol gasoline and its widespread adoption have missed the optimal timing. However, given China’s energy structure, the increasing scarcity of oil resources, and the need to ensure long-term energy security, it is imperative to promote methanol gasoline.