this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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That's exactly it.
The use of methanol is mainly intended as a means to decarbonise shipping more than storage. It's an alternative to using directly hydrogen or amonia.
Methanol in this case would be combined with renewable generated hydrogen and with carbon capture either from industrial or power generation. Combustion will of course yield CO2 and water.
Are the only yields co2 and water? That is my main concern, as I'd guess making methanol in mass would require quite large quantities of fresh water and if the yield is lossy, then you would lose a lot of fresh water. I get it is probably much cleaner than most of the fuel that shipping uses, but it does establish a precedent of converting fresh water to fuel (admittedly while capturing co2).
Yes CO2 and Water. Methanol is CH3-OH.
There would be some minor treatment for the water I imagine, cause after all combustion always leave some traces of dust, and the addition of additives to make demineralised water conductive for electrolisis.