CO{sub 2} mitigation and fuel production

Methanol as an alternative transportation fuel appears to be an effective intermediate agent, for reducing CO{sub 2} from the utility power and the transportation sectors. On the utilization side, methanol as a liquid fuel fits in well with the current infrastructure for storage and delivery to the automotive sector with better efficiency. On the production side, CO{sub 2} from fossil fuel plants together with natural gas and biomass can be used as feedstocks for methanol synthesis with reduced CO{sub 2}. Over the past several years, processes have emerged which have varying degrees of CO{sub 2} emission reduction depending on the feedstocks used for methanol synthesis process. This paper reviews the methanol processes from the point of view of production efficiency and CO{sub 2} emissions reduction. The processes include: (1) the Hydrocarb Process which primarily utilizes coal and natural gas and stores carbon, and (2) the Hynol Process which utilizes biomass (including carbonaceous wastes, municipal solid waste (MSW)) or coal and natural gas, and (3) the Carnol Process which utilizes natural gas and CO{sub 2} recovered from fossil fuel fired powered plant stacks, especially coal fired plants. The Carnol System consists of power generation, methanol production and methanol utilization as an automotive fuel. The efficiency and CO{sub 2} emissions for the entire system are compared to the conventional system of petroleum derived automotive fuel (gasoline) and coal fired power generation plants. CO{sub 2} reduction by as much as 56% and 77% can be achieved when methanol is used in internal combustion and fuel cell automotive vehicles, respectively