Reducing the Carbon Intensity of Methanol for Use as a Transport Fuel: Impact of technology choice on greenhouse gas emissions when producing methanol from natural gas

Methanol is increasingly being looked at as a way to reduce the emissions potential of transport fuel. It may be used in place or in addition to gasoline fuel, for example. The amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted in producing methanol can vary hugely according to the syngas generation technology selected and the choice of electrical or steam turbine drive for compressors and pumps. This paper looks at the impact of these technology choices on GHG emissions and how the carbon intensity of methanol used as a transport fuel compares to the carbon intensity of other hydrocarbon fuels. It is found that methanol produces lower well to wheel emissions than gasoline under all production methods studied and can even produce lower GHG emissions compared to ethanol as a fuel supplement. However, the same is not always true if methanol is used to produce gasoline from natural gas.