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Methanol—a colorless liquid that can be made from agricultural waste—has long been touted as a green alternative to fossil fuels. But it’s toxic and only has half the energy as the same volume of gasoline. Now, researchers report they’ve created a potentially cheap way to use sunlight to convert methanol to ethanol, a more popular alternative fuel that’s less harmful and carries more energy.
The new report is “great work” says Zhongmin Liu, a chemist at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in China who was not involved with the research. If the process can be optimized and scaled up, he says, “It has the potential to change the world.”
The notion of converting methanol to ethanol isn’t new. Companies already have a trio of chemical processes that do so. But these require adding heat, pressure, and toxic additives, such as carbon monoxide. Companies can also make ethanol directly by fermenting corn kernels or sugarcane. But growing those crops requires precious farmland that could otherwise grow food. Researchers and companies have also come up with ways to convert agricultural wastes into ethanol. So far, however, these have proved too costly to be competitive.
(Score: 5, Informative) by bzipitidoo on Friday February 22 2019, @04:38PM
I've been banking on the electric car replacing the gasoline powered car. But the combustion engine could get a new lease on life with an economical way to create fuel from biomass.
From personal experience, the all electric car is vastly superior, with the one big exception of the limited range and/or long recharge times. They're quieter, smoother, more reliable, and much lower maintenance. Oh, and more economical.
I find the old habits of gasoline car ownership still alive. It's been almost a reflex to take mental notes of gas station prices as I commute, so I know who has the best deal on gas today. Find myself still thinking about routine maintenance that's no longer applicable, such as the oil change, and while at it, the radiator and transmission fluid, and maybe the air filter. With the electric, all that just goes away. There's still the power steering and A/C, but those are not belt driven, and so are lower maintenance. Possibly the top source of leakage in an A/C system is the seal on the shaft of the compressor, which has to be present so that the compressor can be driven by belt. In an all-electric, the A/C system has an internal electric motor, no more shaft with high maintenance, leak prone seals.