Talk:Methanol fuel

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[edit] Suggestions for changes to Methanol fuel

After reading through the page for Methanol fuel, I think it could use some improvements:

→ Focus on the fuel properties of methanol, instead of toxicity, which is already discussed under Methanol

→ Supply more references to external sources in support of statements

→ Discuss more of the positive attributes of methanol

→ Avoid a critical tone toward methanol and an approving tone toward ethanol

→ Separate medical and environmental issues

→ Resolve contradictory statements within the page

→ Consider reordering or regrouping statements to improve logical continuity

Everettrw 05:08, 29 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Specific criticisms for the current article on Methanol fuel

Quotes are from the main article.

"Methanol has been considered as a fuel, mainly in combination with gasoline." - Methanol is used as a fuel for motor vehicles, heating devices, and fuel cells. Methanol is used as an additive and extender for gasoline in California, and has been considered for large scale use at near 100% purity. methanol.org

"It has received less attention than ethanol, however, because it has a number of problems of its own." - Methanol has received considerable attention as an alternative to gasoline. It shares many of the same properties as the more familiar ethanol, with some important differences with regards to use as fuel.

"Its main advantage is that it can be easily manufactured from methane (the chief constituent of natural gas) as well as by pyrolysis of many organic materials." - Its main advantage over ethanol is a greater efficiency of production, resulting in lower costs. This holds for both fossil fuels conversion to methanol and for biomass conversion to methanol.

"A problem with pyrolysis is that it is only economically feasible on an industrial scale, so it is not advisable to try to produce methanol from renewable resources like wood on a small (personal use) scale." - Producing methanol or ethanol on a small scale is not economically feasible at present, but industrially, over 30,000,000 tons of methanol and over 20,000,000 tons of ethanol are produced yearly for many purposes, including motor fuel.

"In any case, high temperatures are involved, with some risk of fire; furthermore, methanol is highly toxic, so great care should be taken at all times not to ingest methanol, spill it onto exposed skin, or inhale the fumes." - Both methanol and ethanol burn at lower temperatures than gasoline, and both are less volatile, reducing the risk of explosion or flash fire. Methanol has about the same acute toxicity as gasoline, so similar precautions should be taken when handling it. Methanol is much less carcinogenic than gasoline, and much less harmful to the environment if spilled. Methanol and Gasoline

"Methanol can be derived from biological sources; Russia has an extensive program to make methanol from eucalyptus." - Methanol was first created by pyrolysis of biomass. Current technology can convert the synthesis gas generated by pyrolysis to create additional production of methanol. Everettrw 03:22, 4 December 2006 (UTC)