An Investigation of the Feasibility of Coal-Based Methanol for Application in Transportation Fuel Cell Systems

Abstract

The quantities of energy associated with the transportation application are enormous both domestically and internationally. Global transportation energy requirements are expected to substantially increase as China and other large-population countries expand their automobile and truck use to ever larger fractions of their population. The future cost and availability of petroleum is unknown, which is especially problematic since the United States presently imports greater than 50% of the feedstock crude oil it uses and has limited domestic supplies that are easily recovered. The issue of energy independence and potential environmental issues are two of the driving forces for the “hydrogen economy”. There exists, however, a potential gap between the time petroleum is in short supply and the transition to a full blown hydrogen economy, which would result in the need for a transition fuel.