Methanol as an agent for CO2 mitigation

The Carnol System consists of methanol production by CO2 recovered from coal fired power plants and natural gas and the use of the methanol as an alternative automotive fuel. The Carnol Process produces hydrogen by the thermal decomposition of natural gas and reacting the hydrogen with CO2 recovered from the power plant. The carbon produced can be stored or used as a materials commodity. A design and economic evaluation of the process is presented and compared to gasoline as an automotive fuel. An evaluation of the CO2 emission reduction of the process and system is made and compared to other conventional methanol production processes including the use of biomass feedstock and methanol fuel cell vehicles. The CO2 emission for the entire Carnol System using methanol in automotive IC engines can be reduced by 56% compared to the conventional system of coal fuel power plants and gasoline driven engines and by as much as 77% CO2 emission reduction when methanol is used in fuel cells for automotive purposes. The Carnol System is shown to be an environmentally attractive and economically viable system connecting the power generation sector with the transportation sector which should warrant further development. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.