New methanol process could make industry greener

​Scientists at Cardiff University have discovered a cleaner way of making methanol from methane.

Methanol is widely used in the chemicals industry and in the production of fuel for vehicles. It is currently produced using expensive and energy-intensive processes known as ‘steam reforming’ and ‘methanol synthesis,’ which involve breaking natural gas into hydrogen and carbon monoxide at high temperatures.

Researchers at Cardiff’s Catalysis Institute discovered a way of producing methanol from methane using oxygen and hydrogen peroxide in a simple low-temperature catalysis reaction. They say the findings, which were published in the journal Science, have major implications for cleaner and greener industrial processes.

“The quest to find a more efficient way of producing methanol is a hundred years old,” said Graham Hutchings, director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute. “Commercialisation will take time, but our science has major implications for the preservation of natural gas reserves as fossil fuel stocks dwindle across the world.” Hutchings said his team’s approach could make use of the estimated 100 million tons of natural gas which is currently flared into the atmosphere.

“This research is of significant value to the scientific and industrial communities,” said James J. Spivey, a professor of chemical engineering at Louisiana State University and the editor-in-chief of Catalysis Today. “The conversion of our shale resources into higher value intermediates like methanol provide new routes for chemical intermediates.”

Jenifer Baxter, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, told Professional Engineering the breakthrough was “good news” for reducing the impact of methanol production on the environment.

“Methanol is often used in the production of gasoline. Currently methanol is produced using hydrogen in a high energy process and methanol production is the third largest user of hydrogen globally. By finding new ways to make methanol and hydrogen we can reduce overall emissions and the heavy demand for gas and electricity required in its production.”