Methanol Blending

Relevance:

Demo-run of inland water vessel (SB Gangadhar) powered by methanol blended diesel (MD15) in Guwahati, Assam was held in run-up to India Energy Week 2023 (IEW 2023).

About India Energy Week:

• IEW 2023, first major event under India’s G20 Presidency, follows PM’s pledge at COP26 to cut India’s emissions to net-zero by 2070.
• Patronage Ministry – Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
• It is the only and all-encompassing international energy event supported at the highest level of Indian government.
• Supported by – Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI)

Methanol (CH₃OH):

• Other Name – Wood alcohol
• It is a low carbon hydrogen carrier fuel produced from high ash coal, agricultural residue, CO2 from thermal power plants and natural gas.
• It is slightly lower in energy content than petrol and diesel.
• Methanol as replacement in the following –
  • Transport sector (road, rail and marine)
  • Energy sector (comprising DG sets, boilers, process heating modules, tractors, and commercial vehicles)
  • Retail cooking (replacing LPG [partially], kerosene and wood charcoal).
• It has properties similar to ethanol.
• It is used in various products, including plastics, paints, cosmetics etc.

Methanol economy for India:

• Blending of 15% methanol in gasoline can result in at least 15% reduction in import of gasoline/crude oil.
• Would bring down GHG emissions by 20% in terms of particulate matter, NOx, and SOx.
• Cost to convert vessels to run on methanol is significantly less than other alternative fuel conversions.
• Would create close to 5 million jobs.
• Government initiatives –
  • NITI Aayog’s road map for Methanol Economy
  • Bureau of Indian Standards has notified 20% DME (Di-methyl Ether, a derivative of methanol) in LPG
  • In 2018, Assam Petrochemicals launched Asia’s 1^st canister-based methanol cooking fuel programme
  • BHEL, Thermax, and IIT Delhi to set up coal-to-methanol plants in the country

With reference to two non-conventional energy sources called ‘coalbed methane’ and ‘shale gas’ consider the following statements: (2014)

1. Coalbed methane is the pure methane gas extracted from coal seams, while shale gas is a mixture of propane and butane only that can be extracted from fine-grained sedimentary rocks.
2. In India, abundant coalbed methane sources exist, but so far no shale gas sources have been found.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

• 1 only
• 2 only
• Both 1 and 2
• Neither 1 nor 2

Reference: PIB