Acronyms and Initialisms XIII

Units and their Abbreviations XV

1 Introduction 1

2 History of Coal in the Industrial Revolution and Beyond 11

3 History of Petroleum Oil and Natural Gas 19

3.1 Oil Extraction and Exploration 23

3.2 Natural Gas 24

4 Fossil Fuel Resources and Their Use 29

4.1 Coal 30

4.2 Petroleum Oil 35

4.3 Unconventional Oil Sources 39

4.4 Natural Gas 42

4.5 Coalbed Methane 49

4.6 Tight Sands and Shales 50

4.7 Methane Hydrates 50

4.8 Outlook 53

5 Diminishing Oil and Natural Gas Reserves 55

6 The Continuing Need for Carbon Fuels, Hydrocarbons and their Products 65

6.1 Fractional Distillation 68

6.2 Thermal Cracking 69

7 Fossil Fuels and Climate Change 77

7.1 Effects of Fossil Fuels on Climate Change 77

7.2 Mitigation 86

8 Renewable Energy Sources and Atomic Energy 91

8.1 Introduction 91

8.2 Hydropower 93

8.3 Geothermal Energy 98

8.4 Wind Energy 102

8.5 Solar Energy: Photovoltaic and Thermal 105

8.6 Bioenergy 112

8.7 Ocean Energy: Tidal, Wave and Thermal Power 118

8.8 Nuclear Energy 121

8.9 Future Outlook 140

9 The Hydrogen Economy and its Limitations 143

9.1 Hydrogen and its Properties 143

9.2 Development of Hydrogen Energy 145

9.3 Production and Uses of Hydrogen 148

9.4 The Challenge of Hydrogen Storage 156

9.5 Centralized or Decentralized Distribution of Hydrogen? 161

9.6 Hydrogen Safety 163

9.7 Hydrogen as a Transportation Fuel 164

9.8 Fuel Cells 166

9.9 Outlook 177

10 The "Methanol Economy": General Aspects 179

11 Methanol and Dimethyl Ether as Fuels and Energy Carriers 185

11.1 Background and Properties 185

11.2 Chemical Uses of Methanol 187

11.3 Methanol as a Transportation Fuel 189

11.4 Dimethyl Ether as a Transportation Fuel 197

11.5 DME Fuel for Electricity Generation and as a Household Gas 200

11.6 Biodiesel Fuel 202

11.7 Advanced Methanol-Powered Vehicles 203

11.8 Hydrogen for Fuel Cells Based on Methanol Reforming 203

11.9 Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) 207

11.10 Fuel Cells Based on Other Methanol Derived Fuels and Biofuel Cells 212

11.11 Regenerative Fuel Cell 213

11.12 Methanol and DME as Marine Fuels 213

11.13 Methanol and DME for Static Power and Heat Generation 214

11.14 Methanol and DME Storage and Distribution 216

11.15 Price of Methanol and DME 219

11.16 Safety of Methanol and DME 220

11.17 Emissions from Methanol- and DME-Powered Vehicles 225

11.18 Environmental Effects of Methanol and DME 227

11.19 Beneficial Effect of Chemical CO2 Recycling to Methanol on Climate Change 230

12 Production of Methanol: From Fossil Fuels and Bio-Sources to Chemical Carbon Dioxide Recycling 233

12.1 Methanol from Fossil Fuels 236

12.2 Methanol through Methyl Formate 243

12.3 Methanol from Methane without Producing Syn-Gas 244

12.4 Methanol from Biomass, Including Cellulosic Sources 252

12.5 Chemical Recycling of Carbon Dioxide to Methanol 264

13 Methanol-Based Chemicals, Synthetic Hydrocarbons and Materials 279

13.1 Methanol-Based Chemical Products and Materials 279

13.2 Methyl tert-butyl Ether and DME 281

13.3 Methanol Conversion into Light Olefins and Synthetic Hydrocarbons 282

13.4 Methanol to Olefin (MTO) Processes 283

13.5 Methanol to Gasoline (MTG) Processes 285

13.6 Methanol-Based Proteins 287

13.7 Outlook 288

14 Conclusions and Outlook 289

14.1 Where We Stand Now 289

14.2 The "Methanol Economy", a Solution for the Future 291 References 297

For Further Reading and Information 317

Index 327