Methanol is used to make various products, such as paints and plastics, and as an additive to gasoline. According to experts, methanol, which is rich in hydrogen, can drive new-age fuel cells that could yield significant environmental benefits.
If natural gas, of which methane is the primary component, could be converted economically into methanol, experts believe the resulting liquid fuel would be much more easily stored and transported than natural gas and pure hydrogen. That also would greatly reduce the emissions of methane from natural gas processing plants and pipelines.
Today, escaped methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide, nearly negates the environmental advantages of natural gas over oil and coal. To use this knowledge, a team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of Leuven in Belgium have created a low-energy way to produce methanol from methane.
“This process uses common crystals known as...