Is 2023 the first year of large-scale commercialization of methanol fuel?

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Is 2023 the first year of large-scale commercialization of methanol fuel? Author/Source: Huahua Net Coal Chemicals Date: 2023-02-28 Clicks: 12 On Zhihu, there is a very popular question: “If an energy liquid can fill a car in five minutes and provide a driving range of over 600 kilometers, does that mean new energy electric vehicles no longer have any advantages?” ” Gasoline is the first answer that comes to many people’s minds. From the perspective of convenient refueling, gasoline does have its advantages. However, **from the perspective of energy security, China’s dependence on imported oil remained high at 72% in 2021. Furthermore, gasoline vehicles account for 80% of total carbon monoxide emissions, and their impact on the environment and human health is irreversible. Pure electric vehicles are new products that emerged under the banner of \"environmental protection\". But to make up for the short range, car manufacturers use batteries with large capacities. Yet in reality, with the accelerating adoption of pure electric vehicles, there may be certain risks regarding the supply of lithium mineral resources. It should be noted that China holds only 6% of the world’s lithium ore, but it produces 71% of the world’s lithium salts. In the long term, there remains a certain degree of instability in the supply-demand relationship, with the alarm of an energy crisis persisting. In 2006, George Olah, the Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and a renowned organic chemist, wrote a book titled Beyond the Oil and Gas Era – The Methanol Economy. In the book, George proposes a new concept to address the energy crisis facing the world: the methanol economy. He mentioned that in the future, after oil and gas, methanol will be humanity’s fuel. There is a magical liquid called methanol. Here, we’d like to share an interesting fact with you: China is the world’s largest producer and consumer of methanol, accounting for 65% of global production capacity. “Methanol is abundant and serves as an energy carrier. ”Liu Ke, Dean of the School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Southern University of Science and Technology and an foreign member of the **Australian Academy of Engineering, has commented on methanol in public forums in this way. In addition to being virtually inexhaustible, methanol is also recognized internationally as a clean fuel: it burns easily, and the main by-products of its combustion are carbon dioxide and water; moreover, carbon dioxide can be used to produce methanol. Therefore, methanol is a low-carbon fuel that enables a truly carbon-neutral cycle. As the world’s largest producer and consumer of methanol, data shows that in the first half of 2022, China’s methanol production amounted to approximately 38.35 million tons, representing a 2.43% increase compared to the same period last year. In the past, we had too many misconceptions about methanol. Many people believe that methanol is toxic and unsafe. Indeed, the toxicity of methanol has a significant impact on the human nervous system and blood system; it can cause toxic effects when absorbed through the digestive tract, respiratory tract, or skin. Methanol vapor can damage the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract as well as vision. However, the occurrence of such harm is contingent on methanol being exposed to the human body. In other words, as long as methanol is not consumed directly, it is generally safe. The molecular formula of methanol is CH3OH, and it is a liquid at normal temperature and pressure. At the chemical level, both methanol and ethanol belong to the category of alcohols; their chemical properties are very similar, and they exhibit similar toxic mechanisms in living organisms as well as the same low level of hazard. Image: Molecular structure of methanol, Visual China. According to the **standard GBZ 230—2010 on the classification of hazards associated with occupational exposure to toxic substances**, methanol, ethanol, and gasoline are all classified as having a low level of hazard; moreover, methanol’s hazard index is even lower than that of gasoline. Within the ten city areas where methanol-powered vehicle trials are being conducted, no cases of health issues related to methanol were detected among all individuals working with this substance. According to monitoring, the concentration of methanol in the ambient air at these sites is below the limits set by China’s regulations regarding occupational exposure. Moreover, methanol, along with ethanol and gasoline, all belong to flammable and explosive hazardous chemicals. Methanol has a lower calorific value than ethanol and gasoline, lower volatility than gasoline, and is readily soluble in water; as a result, its hazard in terms of fire safety is also lower than that of gasoline. Compared to gasoline, another advantage of methanol as a fuel is its more complete combustion. Because methanol fuel has an octane rating as high as 112, it allows the engine to operate more smoothly. As an oxygen-containing fuel, methanol improves the combustion reaction in engines and enhances the thermal conversion efficiency. More importantly, the theoretical air-fuel ratio for burning methanol in an engine is only 6.45, which is more than half lower than the air-fuel ratio of 14.6 for gasoline ； Together with the improved thermal efficiency of the engine, this means that the engine’s air intake volume will decrease accordingly ； As the amount of air drawn in by the engine decreases, the amount of nitrogen drawn in decreases proportionally, and the quantity of nitrogen oxides produced should also decrease. Ten years of pilot projects and promotion efforts for methanol-powered vehicles in China have shown that these vehicles have an energy efficiency 21% higher than that of gasoline-powered vehicles, while their carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 26%. So the question arises: why wasn’t such a remarkable liquid as methanol widely used in the past? The main technical bottleneck lies in the methanol production stage. New approaches for methanol production: The second little-known fact we need to explain is that traditional methanol production in our country relies mainly on coal as a raw material. The main raw materials for traditional methanol come from hydrogen and carbon dioxide produced by coal gasification. This is mainly due to our country’s resource profile, which features abundant coal but limited oil and gas, resulting in coal-based methanol accounting for 80% of the total production ； For the production of methanol overseas, the main raw material is natural gas, accounting for over 90%. Traditional coal-based chemical processes for methanol production emit large amounts of carbon dioxide, which is clearly contrary to the \"low-carbon and environmentally friendly\" approach pursued by new energy vehicles. In addition, another method for producing methanol is electro-methanol, which is produced by electrolyzing water to generate hydrogen and then combining it with carbon dioxide ； Biomass methanol is primarily produced from straw, urban waste, and other similar materials. Among them, electrochemical methanol is produced by combining green hydrogen and carbon dioxide captured from industrial sources. It emits less carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter. The method of producing methanol using hydrogen and carbon dioxide as raw materials has gradually come to the forefront through subsequent technological advancements. In 2015, China’s production and sales of new energy vehicles ranked first in the world. Coincidentally, that same year, Geely began exploring new methods for producing methanol of the next generation – it invested in Icelandic company Carbon Cycle International to work together on technologies for the sustainable synthesis of methanol fuel, using geothermal power to produce hydrogen and the captured carbon dioxide to create renewable methanol. In the market testing projects in Iceland, Geely’s methanol-powered vehicles have accumulated a total driving distance of over 400,000 kilometers, with each vehicle covering a maximum distance of over 100,000 kilometers. After building up its technical expertise in carbon dioxide hydrogenation for methanol production (ETL), Geely Automobile has been working to bring this technology into commercial use. Finally, in 2020, Geely introduced this set of technologies to China, and in collaboration with Anyang Shuncheng Company, it built the world’s largest green and low-carbon methanol plant – which came online on February 21, 2023. Image: Anyang Methanol Plant. Specifically, the process used in this plant differs from the conventional method of synthesizing methanol by reacting CO with H2 as a carbon source; instead, it uses CO2 and H2 as raw materials to produce methanol in one step. It employs a CO2 capture and purification technology that is entirely developed in China and represents a global leader in this field. This technology enables the recovery of CO2 from industrial exhaust gases, allowing for the simultaneous production of methanol and LNG. All useful gases are utilized, making this approach energy-efficient, efficient, safe, and environmentally friendly. Once the project is in full operation, 360 million Nm3 of coke oven gas can be utilized annually to produce 110,000 tons of methanol and 70,000 tons of LNG, generating sales revenue of 560 million yuan. By producing methanol, the project can directly reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 160,000 tons per year, which is equivalent to expanding forest cover by 160,000 mu; indirectly, it can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 550,000 tons, equivalent to an increase in forest area of 550,000 mu. Theoretically, the method of producing methanol from carbon dioxide not only enables the creation of clean energy but also helps to deal with the carbon dioxide emitted in chemical manufacturing processes. And such “green” methanol fuel is already making its way onto the roads quietly. Energy conservation and environmental protection – it’s time to move beyond relying solely on electric vehicles. When it comes to new energy vehicles that symbolize \"green\" technology, one approach that comes to mind is to completely eliminate internal combustion engines, and achieve the goal of zero-emission vehicles through electric drive technology and fuel cell technology. But in fact, there is another path, which is a solution that involves continuing to use internal combustion engines while seeking alternative fuels such as natural gas, ethanol, and dimethyl ether. Of course, the most important alternative fuel is our focus today – methanol fuel. Compared to pure electric vehicles, methanol exhibits better carbon emission performance throughout its entire life cycle. In some ternary lithium batteries, there are large amounts of heavy metals and rare metals, and the environmental impact associated with them also presents significant uncertainties. Furthermore, the refueling experience at methanol fuel stations is not fundamentally different from that of gasoline. Compared to charging, the time cost of recharging is **reduced**. Compared to hydrogen fuel cells, methanol is a liquid at normal temperature and pressure, resulting in lower costs for production, transportation, and storage, as well as requiring fewer structural modifications to the vehicles. Furthermore, hydrogen fuel also requires large-capacity batteries, thus still being subject to the same inherent problems associated with lithium batteries in pure electric vehicles. Compared to gasoline engines, methanol fuel engines have three key technical features: the methanol fuel supply system, the low-temperature starting system, and corrosion-resistant components. At the same time, corresponding specialized post-treatment equipment and components such as specialized filters are also required. As one of the first domestic automakers to respond to relevant policies and engage in research on methanol-powered vehicles, Geely Automobile has, over the past 18 years, overcome numerous key technical challenges, including low-temperature cold starting, the development of materials resistant to methanol, the creation of specialized lubricants and additives, emission control, and methanol fuel injection control systems. It has also successfully addressed industry-related issues such as the resistance to methanol and the durability of components in methanol engines. The next stage is the large-scale commercial implementation. Methanol fuel is being adopted in vehicles, with commercial vehicles taking the lead. What methanol fuel addresses first is actually the issue of achieving a low-carbon transition for commercial vehicles. It should be noted that, according to the \"Development Plan for the New Energy Vehicle Industry (2021–2035)\\", all vehicles used in public sectors are to be fully electrified by 2035. Whether pursuing the conventional electrical route or the fuel cell route, commercial vehicles face significant cost and commercialization challenges. Due to the high cost of batteries, the manufacturing cost of pure-electric commercial vehicles is generally high; even with subsidies, their prices still do not have an advantage over traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. Furthermore, longer charging times also affect the operational efficiency of commercial vehicles. In comparison, methanol fuel becomes a more practical energy solution for commercial vehicles on the path to lower carbon emissions than pure electric power. The economic viability of methanol and its stable supply provide a green and efficient new pathway for the commercial vehicle sector. Compared to traditional diesel trucks, long-haul methanol trucks can save 18%-32% on fuel costs, which translates to a savings of up to 1 yuan per kilometer. The methanol extended-range power system, developed in combination with electrification, is used in heavy trucks, further improving efficiency. As oil resources become increasingly scarce, the economic advantages of methanol fuel will grow greater in the future. The 10 remote methanol trucks purchased by Shuncheng Group in the past have performed well, delivering significant economic benefits; each truck can save around 100,000 yuan in fuel costs per year. Recently, Shuncheng signed a cooperation agreement with Alcohol-Hydrogen Technology, a subsidiary of Geely dedicated to promoting methanol-powered trucks and developing a green methanol ecosystem. The two parties established a joint venture company aimed at promoting the use of methanol-powered trucks as well as a green, low-carbon methanol ecosystem in the local area and surrounding regions, including the development and operation of methanol refueling infrastructure. This time, Shuncheng Group purchased 300 methanol-powered trucks, with the first 30 units delivered at the event site; the fuel used in these vehicles is green and low-carbon methanol produced by this project. Images: Not only in the commercial vehicle sector, but also in vehicles with large sizes and high carrying capacity, methanol fuel can find applications where it can be useful. In the field of ships, methanol has also become a rising \"star\". Since the world’s first methanol-powered converted ferry, the “Stena Germanica”, began operating in 2015, there has been an international push to develop ships powered by methanol fuel. Last June, China’s first green ship powered by methanol as a dual fuel was delivered from the shipyard of Guangzhou Shipbuilding International, which is part of China State Shipbuilding Corporation. Equipped with a world-leading methanol dual-fuel propulsion system, this ship can reduce carbon emissions by up to 75%, nitrogen emissions by 15%, and sulfur and particulate emissions by 99%. The shipping giant Maersk of Denmark has been a strong supporter of methanol fuel. As early as 2021, Maersk chose to conduct research and testing on four types of fuels: ammonia, methanol, biodiesel, and lignin, and announced that it would launch container services powered by methanol by 2023. 2023 could become the first year of large-scale commercialization of methanol fuel.