Moving to Methanol

Why in news?

NITI Aayog is helping the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas draft a Cabinet note on methanol.

What is the initiative?

When a Cabinet note is circulated it covers all aspects and issues that may pose a challenge for Methanol Policy implementation.
The policy will be a combined effort of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Fertiliser and Coal among others.
The NITI Aayog will be a facilitator.
It is also looking at possible international collaborations.
This is to get help during the interim period till coal to methanol production in India reaches a level that it can meet the demand.
There is a need to import certain quantity of methanol till then.

How is methanol a better option for India?

Imports - Methanol is a cost-effective, non-polluting and versatile fuel.
It can fully or partially replace petrol, diesel or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
With methanol, India aims at trimming the crude oil import bill by 10% by 2022.
It can thus reduce India’s dependence on energy imports.
Sources - Ethanol is made largely from plant-based sources, such as sugarcane and vegetable oil.
A land-constrained country like India can ill-afford this.
But unlike this, methanol can be derived from a variety of renewable, non-renewable and abundantly available feedstock.
These include agricultural biomass, urban solid waste, coal, and natural gas.
It, significantly, includes even carbon dioxide (CO2) present in the air.

Cost - The locally generated and relatively cheaper methanol can significantly contribute to saving cost.
The Indian Railways is considering converting its entire fleet of 6,000 diesel engines to methanol-operated locomotives.
This could cut down the railways’ energy bill by half.
Besides, if about 20% of crude oil imports are substituted by methanol, vehicular pollution can be slashed by 40%.
In all, this is a positive move serving both the energy- and environment-related objectives.

What are the concerns?

Methanol-powered vehicles are almost totally non-polluting.
However, a large amount of CO2, a potent polluter, is emitted during the process of making methanol from coal.
This will need to be either captured and stored or used to co-generate power in methanol plants.
Otherwise, it has to be recycled into methanol.
However, the technology for this purpose needs further refinement and scaling up.
Also, internal combustion engines now can accept methanol-doping of only up to 15% with minimal modification.
Higher levels of blending will require changes in engine design.
Despite these, the overall gains from the use of methanol outweigh the cost of surmounting the drawbacks.
It could certainly add a new dimension to the country’s energy security.

Source: Business Standard, BusinessLine