Which of the following will dominate as source of fuel in Methanol Economy?

1) Methanol

2) Dimethyl Ether

3) Ethanol

a. 2, 3

b. 1

c. 1, 2

d. All of the above

ANSWER: 1, 2

Explanation:

The methanol economy is a suggested future economy in which methanol and dimethyl ether replace fossil fuels as a means of energy storage, ground transportation fuel, and raw material for synthetic hydrocarbons and their products.

It offers an alternative to the proposed hydrogen economy or ethanol economy.

In the 1990s, Nobel prize winner George A. Olah advocated a methanol economy.

Methanol can be produced from a wide variety of sources including still-abundant fossil fuels (natural gas, coal, oil shale, tar sands, etc.), but also agricultural products and municipal waste, wood and varied biomass.

It can also be made from chemical recycling of carbon dioxide.