Comparision of Methanol and Ethanol：

Methanol and ethanol are simple organic alcohols that occur in nature. They can also be synthesized easily, and have been for centuries. Both are colorless liquids with a sweet smell.

Ethanol is ethyl alcohol (CH3-CH2OH) found in beer, wine and all liquor. Brewing is primarily converting the starch or sugar in grains or grapes into ethanol.

In recent years, ethanol has also become a fuel. It’s added to gasoline to reduce dependency on imported oil. Corn and sorghum produced over the world is converted to ethanol sold at the pump.

Methanol or methyl alcohol (CH3OH), once known as wood alcohol, should not be drunk. Although sweeter than ethanol, even a single drink can damage or destroy the optic nerve, leading to blindness. It is used in making numerous chemicals like formaldehyde, paints and so on.

Methanol can also be used as fuel. After the oil crisis forty years ago, methanol was added to gasoline in parts of the United States, especially in California. It is still added to gasoline routinely in other parts of the world, notably China. Methanol is also used in the manufacture of biodiesel.

In the olden days, methanol used to be produced from the pyrolysis of wood. Now methanol is produced from natural gas. It can also be produced from coal, agricultural and timber waste, landfill gas, and so on.

Advantages of using methanol as fuel:

Methanol works with current automobile technology. American consumers have not warmed up to electric and hybrid vehicles in spite of subsidies and high gasoline prices, because of sticker shock. For about$50-100, Detroit can make automobiles which use methanol.

Methanol can be manufactured from natural gas. US has a surplus of it, going to waste. As does much of the world. It can also be made from any organic waste, cleaning up the environment in the process.

Methanol is cheap: It costs about $1.10 a gallon. It can reach the gas station for about $1.60 a gallon. Since two gallons of methane is necessary to match a gallon of gas, its effective price is about $3.25 a gallon.

Oil companies and ethanol production now get about 40 cents a gallon as subsidy from US taxpayers. So, the $4.25 gas actually costs US consumers $4.65. In contrast, with methane: No imported oil, and no subsidy needed.

Use of methanol also means that the emissions and the carbon footprint generated in the production of gasoline and grain ethanol are eliminated. While burning, methanol produces less of nitrogen oxides than gasoline.

Methanol fire spreads much slower, unlike gasoline fire can be fought with water, no chemicals needed.