“With common-sense public policies in place, American drivers will be able to save money by having options for both oil and natural gas, as well as biofuel and electricity, to power their vehicles. The result? True and lasting energy independence.”
It seems like every week another major automaker announces it will “electrify” its vehicle lineup. In just the past few months, Mercedez-Benz, Ford, Audi, Maserati, Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, Lincoln, Volkswagen, GM, Aston Martin, and more have committed to electrification by adding more electric vehicle (EV) options to their fleet. Read more →
For nearly a decade now, most gasoline sold in the U.S. has contained 10 percent ethanol. This allowed us to do away with toxic additives like BTEX and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Nat King Cole sang it first. Depeche Mode sang it New-Waviest. According to the lyrics of the famous Bobby Troup-penned song “Route 66,” which turns 70 this year, it was the best highway around, and people could get their kicks on it. But did you know the iconic highway is going green? Read more →
14 dollars and 81 cents.
That’s how much I’ve spent on gasoline since I leased a 2016 Chevy Volt near the end of November. Read more →
2015 was a busy year. From the world reaching a monumental climate agreement in Paris, to Russia becoming embroiled in the Syrian civil war, to one of the world’s largest automakers being caught cheating on their emission testing, there was no shortage of groundbreaking events. Read more →
Picture this.
You’re driving down the road and you notice your tank is almost empty — time to fill up. Read more →
Lane Kelley of ICIS Chemical Business calls it “methanol mania” and he probably wasn’t exaggerating. Last week Texas and Louisiana underwent an explosion of activity, promising to turn the region into a world center for methanol.
Earlier this month, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced that Castleton Commodities International LLC (CCI), a Connecticut firm, will be building a $1.2 billion methanol manufacturing plant on the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish. The plant is expected to produce $1.8 million tons of methanol a year.
“This plant will help our children stay in Louisiana instead of leaving the state to find jobs,” said Jindal. “My number one priority it to make Louisiana a business friendly place.”
But that’s not even half of it. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) just gave its final approval to a $1 billion methanol plant to be built near Beaumont, Texas. The facility will be operated by Natgasoline LLC, a subsidiary of a Netherlands-based company that already employs 72,000 people in 35 countries. It will employ thousands of construction workers and carry a $20 million payroll when it begins operating in of 2016.
Does that sound like a lot? Well, don’t forget Methanex Corporation, the country’s largest manufacturer of methanol, is in the process of moving two plants back from Chile to Louisiana. One plant is scheduled to open in a few months. And ZEEP (Zero Emissions Energy Plants), an Austin-based company, has just raised $1 million for a proposed plant in St. James Parish, La.
Does that sound like a full plate? Well, it’s still just the beginning. The Connell Group, a government-supported operation, announced long-range plans for what would be the largest methanol plant in the world — even if only half it gets built. The first unit, located in either Texas or Louisiana, would produce 3.6 million tons a year, twice the current world record holder in Trinidad. Together, the two units would produce more than the current U.S. demand, 6.3 million tons a year. The term “Gigafactory” soon may be standard vocabulary.
So what’s going on? Well, the plan is for nearly all this Texas and Louisiana methanol production to be exported to China. The widening of the Panama Canal for supertankers, scheduled to be completed in early 2016, will be a bit part of the puzzle. Believe it or not, China also has plans to build three more plants in Oregon and Washington. But they run into trouble there, of the West Coast’s dislike of fossil fuels.
So China is planning to use American natural gas as a substitute for its own coal, in producing large amounts of methanol. It’s no different from the Chinese buying up farmland in Brazil and Ukraine in order to grow crops.
But the Chinese have other things in mind as well. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd, Chery International, Shanghai Maple Guorun Automobile Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. all produce methanol-adaptive cars, which now accounts for eight percent of China’s fuel consumption. Israel is also experimenting with methanol from natural gas as a substitute for imported oil.
Methanol produces only 50 percent of the energy of gasoline, but its higher octane rating brings it up into the 65 percent range. It produces 40 percent less carbon dioxide and other pollutants and would go a long way toward helping China improve its pollution problems. As far as methanol production is concerned, China sees only see an upside.
So what’s going on in this country? Well, so far we have the world’s largest reserves of natural gas, we are on the verge of becoming a world center methanol manufacturer — yet we still have a set of rules and regulations and sheer inertia that prevent us from powering our cars with methanol. For some strange reason, the United States is about to become a world center for the production of methanol, yet we still haven’t figured out how to put it to one of its best uses.
Sounds like an opportunity for somebody.
I’m looking forward to checking out Pump because believe it or not I think the subject of clean energy and renewable energy is important especially with our gas guzzling cars! Here’s some character posters along with the trailer for the documentary.
PUMP the new documentary about America and oil to be released September 19th.
