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China's growing methanol economy and its implications for energy and the environment

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  • Yang, Chi-Jen
  • Jackson, Robert B.

Abstract

For more than a decade, Nobel laureate George Olah and coworkers have advocated the Methanol Economy – replacing petroleum-based fuels and chemicals with methanol and methanol-derivatives – as a path to sustainable development. A first step to this vision appears to be occurring in China. In the past five years, China has quickly built an industry of coal-based methanol and dimethyl ether (DME) that is competitive in price with petroleum-based fuels. Methanol fuels offer many advantages, including a high octane rating and cleaner-burning properties than gasoline. Methanol also has some disadvantages. A coal-based Methanol Economy could enhance water shortages in China, increase net carbon dioxide emissions, and add volatility to regional and global coal prices. China's rapidly expanding Methanol Economy provides an interesting experiment for what could happen elsewhere if methanol is widely adopted, as proposed by Olah and researchers before him.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Chi-Jen & Jackson, Robert B., 2012. "China's growing methanol economy and its implications for energy and the environment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 878-884.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:41:y:2012:i:c:p:878-884
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2011.11.037
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    14. Chengjiang Li & Tingwen Jia & Shiyuan Wang & Xiaolin Wang & Michael Negnevitsky & Honglei Wang & Yujie Hu & Weibin Xu & Na Zhou & Gang Zhao, 2023. "Methanol Vehicles in China: A Review from a Policy Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    15. Pérez-Fortes, Mar & Schöneberger, Jan C. & Boulamanti, Aikaterini & Tzimas, Evangelos, 2016. "Methanol synthesis using captured CO2 as raw material: Techno-economic and environmental assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 718-732.
    16. Matzen, Michael & Alhajji, Mahdi & Demirel, Yaşar, 2015. "Chemical storage of wind energy by renewable methanol production: Feasibility analysis using a multi-criteria decision matrix," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 343-353.
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    18. Guo, Zhihang & Wang, Qinhui & Fang, Mengxiang & Luo, Zhongyang & Cen, Kefa, 2014. "Thermodynamic and economic analysis of polygeneration system integrating atmospheric pressure coal pyrolysis technology with circulating fluidized bed power plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1301-1314.
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    20. Tabibian, Seyed Shayan & Sharifzadeh, Mahdi, 2023. "Statistical and analytical investigation of methanol applications, production technologies, value-chain and economy with a special focus on renewable methanol," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    21. Garcia, Gabriel & Arriola, Emmanuel & Chen, Wei-Hsin & De Luna, Mark Daniel, 2021. "A comprehensive review of hydrogen production from methanol thermochemical conversion for sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    22. von Storch, Henrik & Roeb, Martin & Stadler, Hannes & Sattler, Christian & Bardow, André & Hoffschmidt, Bernhard, 2016. "On the assessment of renewable industrial processes: Case study for solar co-production of methanol and power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 121-132.

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