Methanol

India is pushing for higher ethanol-blended fuel for cleaner energy and its economic value and the country has moved a long way in the last five years.The country is working on ethanol and methanol blended fuel to run vehicles to reduce emissions and the cost of fuel imports. At present, 10 per cent ethanol is blended in petrol (10 per cent ethanol and 90 per cent petrol) and the government is looking to double this quantity by 2025. Earlier this year, petrol blended with 20 per cent ethanol was rolled out at select…

Methanol has found some footing as an alternative fuel for commercial shipping, but it remains largely sidelined in other transportation sectors, including leisure watercraft. British design firm Chartwell Marine is looking to plot a new leisurely course for the fuel with help from a £320K (US$400K) government grant and a partnership with shipbuilder Archipelago Expedition Yachts. The parties will together develop the Zero.63, an eight-person catamaran that can travel thousands of miles while burning only methanol, a…

The company recalled 19 other lots out of caution. Photo: MICROGEN IMAGES/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY (AP)A Colorado-based auto detailing company has recalled its hand sanitizer from the market due to it possibly containing methanol, a toxic type of alcohol that could lead to death if ingested. Adam’s Polishes voluntarily recalled a lot of hand sanitizers after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found it to contain methanol, the administration announced this week. The company also recalled 19 other lots out of caution that…

This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Meta’s new AI can turn text prompts into videos What’s happened: Meta has unveiled an AI system that generates short videos based on text prompts. Make-A-Video lets you type in a string of words, like “A dog wearing a superhero outfit with a red cape flying through the sky,” and then generates a five-second clip that, while pretty accurate, has the aesthetics of a…

Today, the leading company making methanol from carbon dioxide is Carbon Recycling International, an Icelandic company. Geely invested in CRI in 2015, and they have partnered to build the world’s largest CO2-to-fuel factory in China. When it’s running, it could recycle 160,000 tons of CO2 emissions from steel plants every year.  The potential for clean production is what makes methanol desirable as a fuel. It’s not just a more efficient way to use energy, but also a way to remove existing CO2 from the air. To reach…

The top part of the graphic shows onshore methanol production. The bottom part shows how hydrogen for the engine is obtained from methanol in the reactor (blue arrow). The remaining carbon dioxide is stored in the tank and reused in onshore methanol production. Credit: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Shipping is one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gases, and this is leading shipbuilders and operators on a search for…

Scientists have developed an efficient new way to convert methane into methanol at room temperature. The technique could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide a cleaner way to make key products.While carbon dioxide gets most of the attention, it’s not the only greenhouse gas changing the Earth’s climate. Methane is emitted in smaller amounts but is 34 times more potent, so reducing its levels remains a priority. Excess methane from industrial processes is often burned off, but that produces CO2.A commonly…

An international team of researchers, led by scientists at the University of Manchester, has developed a fast and economical method of converting methane, or natural gas, into liquid methanol at ambient temperature and pressure. The method takes place under continuous flow over a photo-catalytic material using visible light to drive the conversion. Credit: ORNL/Jill HemmanAn international team of researchers has developed a fast and economical method of converting methane, commonly called natural gas, into liquid methanol…