Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy

By George A. Olah, Alain Goeppert, G K Surya Prakash, et al.

Book Overview

In this masterpiece, the renowned chemistry Nobel Laureate, George A. Olah and his colleagues discuss in a clear and readily accessible manner the use of methanol as a viable alternative to our diminishing fossil fuel resources. They look at the pros and cons of our current main energy sources, namely oil and natural gas, and varied renewable energies, and new ways to overcome obstacles. Following an introduction, Olah, Goeppert and Prakash look at the interrelation of fuels and energy, and at the extent of our non-renewable fossil fuel resources. Despite the diminishing reserve and global warming, the authors point out the continuing need for hydrocarbons and their products. They also discuss the envisioned hydrogen economy and its significant shortcomings. The main section then focuses on the methanol economy, including the conversion carbon dioxide from industrial exhausts (such as flue gases from fossil fuel burning power plants) and carbon dioxide contained in the atmoshere into convenient liquid methanol for fuel uses (notably in fuel cells) and as a raw material for hydrocarbons. The book is rounded off with a glimpse into the future. A forward-looking and inspiring work regarding the major challenges of future energy and environmental problems.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 3527312757
• ISBN13: 9783527312757
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH
• Length: 290 Pages
• Weight: 1.51 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.9" x 9.7"

Customer Reviews

MEtahnol Economy

This is a wonderful book, masterly written, both for experts in chemistry, economy and public at large. Such an achievement is rare. I strongly recommend this book. M Apostol

Wake up, world

The extraordinarily wide-ranging review of our major energy sources should be manadtory reading for everybody. The case is then made for developing (and researching further) the use of methanol as a future energy source. It is compelling. Why do we not hear politicians and the press screaming for this work to be done? Creating a practical new source of energy whilst having an impact on CO2 greenhouse gases seems to be a possibility. Wake up world ! - it's time for a paradigm shift. This is a masterpiece - a remarkable book at an amazingly low price.

an excellent job covering alternative renewable energy sources

Olah (1994 Nobel laureate carbocation chemistry, director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute) and his coauthors do an excellent job going over fossil fuel(coal, natural gas, oil) resources, how close we are to running out of each, the vast number of uses for these resources, and the likelihood of climate change due to their burning. It is assumed that in the future we will have abundant energy available from nuclear and alternative sources. Methanol would then be one of the prime carriers of this energy, and an alternate source for all petrochemicals. They also cover alternative renewable energy sources, compare using hydrogen versus methanol as a carrier of energy from new renewable energy sources and nuclear energy plants. The authors do a thorough job pointing out the enormous use of hydrocarbons throughout the industrial world for a huge array of products. Not only do we need vast new renewable sources of energy we also need to be able to use this energy to change new carbon sources into useful products. The new source of carbon, methanol from CO2 and H2! Olah, et al shows in great detail how methanol can be changed chemically into the precursors for just about anything and at very high efficiencies. We would use energy from nuclear and new renewable energy sources directly where we can, such as powering our factories and homes' electrical systems. We would use some of this new energy to change CO2 from emissions and hydrogen from electrolysis of water, into methanol to run our cars, trucks, etc., and provide feedstock for all the products now produced from petroleum. Note that methanol formed this way adds no new CO2 since CO2 from the surroundings is used to make it. This is very similar to using ethanol produced from corn or other biomass, except it involves more chemistry. The new process involves using electrochemical or photochemical reduction of CO2, which forms methanol, formic acid and formaldehyde, CO2 + 2H2 -> CH3OH with additional products which are also changed to CH3OH, <br />HCHO + HCO2H -> CH3OH + CO2 <br />They don't give a lot of details, because they have a patent pending on the process. <br /> <br />In the interim, while we are developing and building alternative renewable energy sources, we can change coal, natural gas, biomass, etc., into methanol. This is already done to a small degree and existing infrastructure for gas and oil can be used with small adjustments. The authors also compare using hydrogen and methanol, as storage and transport media. <br /> <br />It was a surprise to me that there is more hydrogen in a liter of liquid methanol (98.8 g of hydrogen) than in a liter of liquid hydrogen (70.8 g at -253?C), water for comparison has 111g of hydrogen. Methanol would store and transport much more easily than liquid hydrogen. <br /> <br />The first sources of CO2 would be exhaust gas from utilities and big factories, which generate a lot of CO2, hydrogen would come from water being

Inspiring book about our current energy challenges and a possible solution

The increasing world population and the declining availability of cheap oil threaten to plunge the world into a global energy crisis. Concerns over our reliance on oil and gas and the impact of fossil fuels on the environment have escalated significantly in recent years. This book explores current energy sources (oil, natural gas, coal, atomic energy) as well as renewable alternative energies (wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, etc), the interrelation of fuels and energy, and the extent of non-renewable fossil fuel resources. Besides the need to find alternates to diminishing fossil fuels, the authors outline the need for hydrocarbons and their products way into the future despite depleting reserves and global warming, and examine the envisioned hydrogen economy and its significant shortcomings.It illustrates how methanol can be used as a convenient liquid fuel and a raw material for hydrocarbons and their products. The needed methanol can be made from a variety of sources including carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas). This timely book demonstrates how carbon dioxide from industrial exhausts (and eventually even atmospheric carbon dioxide) can be converted into safe liquid methanol. I thought that it was an insightful and inspiring guide to meeting the world's future energy needs while preserving the environment.

Very interesting book

Very interesting book showing our utterly dependence on fossil fuel and the consequences of this dependence including resource depletion and global warming. The authors offer an answer to these problems by the installation of a so-called methanol economy which will use liquid methanol as a convenient energy carrier and raw material for hydrocarbons and all the products derived today from petroleum or natural gas (plastics, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, etc..).