Beyond Oil and Gas: The Methanol Economy

Dedication Preface 1. Introduction 2. Coal in the Industrial Revolution and Beyond 3. History of Petroleum Oil and Natural Gas 4. Fossil Fuel Resources and Their Use 5. Oil and Natural Gas Reserves and their Limits 6. The Continuing Need for Hydrocarbons Fuels and Products 7. Fossil Fuels and Climate Change 8. Renewable Energy Sources and Atomic Energy 9. The Hydrogen Economy and its Limitations 10. The "Methanol Economy": General Aspects 11. Methanol and Dimethyl Ether as Fuels and Energy Carriers 12. Production of Methanol From Still Available Fossil Fuel Resources 13. Production of Renewable Methanol and DME from Biomass and Through Carbon Capture and Recycling 14. Methanol-Based Chemicals, Synthetic Hydrocarbons and Materials 15. Conclusion and Outlook Further Reading and Information References Index

Born in 1927 in Budapest, Hungary, George A. Olah obtained his doctorate at the Technical University of Budapest, and was a Distinguished Professor and Director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Institute at the University of Southern California (USC). During his life, he received numerous awards and recognitions worldwide, including memberships in various academies of science and 12 honorary degrees. He has some 1,500 scientific papers, 20 books and more than 140 patents to his name. In 1994, Prof Olah was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on long-lived carbocations. He was a pioneer and a major proponent of the Methanol Economy concept. Unfortunately, Prof. Olah passed away in March 2017, before seeing the third edition of this book published. Alain Goeppert was born in 1974 in Strasbourg, France. After obtaining his diploma in chemistry from the University Robert Schuman in Strasbourg, he received his engineering degree from the Fachhochschule Aalen, Germany. He then returned to Strasbourg to study the reactivity of alkanes in strong acid systems under the direction of Prof Jean Sommer at the Université Louis Pasteur, earning his PhD in 2002. Subsequently, he joined the group of Professors. Olah and Prakash at the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute and is now a research scientist. Dr. Goeppert's current research is focused on the transformation of methane and CO2 into more valuable products as well as CO2 capture and recycling technologies. Currently a Professor and Olah Nobel Laureate Chair in Hydrocarbon Chemistry, Director at the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute and Chair of Chemistry at USC, G. K. Surya Prakash was born in 1953 in Bangalore, India. After receiving his bachelor and master degrees from India he obtained his PhD from the University of Southern California under the direction of Prof Olah in 1978. Professor Prakash has more than 770 scientific papers, 14 books and 90 patents to his name, and has received many accolades, including