Stockpiling methanol and/or dimethyl ether for fuel and energy reserves

WWW.BLUEFUELENERGY.COM: According to a US Patent Application Publication (No: US2009/0320356 A1), Nobel Prize-winner George Olah and his Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute colleage, G.K. Surya Prakash, authors of “Beyond Oil and Gas: the Methanol Economy”, have applied for a patent for an invention relating to “a method of stockpiling a fuel source by storing methanol or dimethyl ether in appropriate storage facilities to provide an alternative fuel source that can be used to avoid shortages due to unavailability, limited availability or excessive costs of oil.” These facilities can be natural or man-made, such as an underground tank, an above-ground tank, or a salt dome.

A fundamental premise behind the invention is that the world is facing an oil crisis and that the US’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), established in the 1970s to maintain an emergency oil supply, is facing daunting challenges, including hurricanes, political unrest in oil producing countries, and overall oil shortages, as well as the fact that oil poses several safety issues, such as its extreme flammability. Another premise is that to mitigate climate change and pollution, renewable, alternative, clean-burning, low-carbon/carbon-neutral fuels need to be widely adopted. Professor Olah and his colleagues at Loker have also patented novel methods of production for methanol and/or dimethyl ether using the hydrogenative chemical recycling of carbon dioxide. To read more about the perspectives of professors Olah and Surya Prakash, click here.

International DME Association Launches North American Affairs Group

WWW.BLUEFUELENERGY.COM: At the 2009 World Methanol Conference, which is now taking place (Dec 8-9) in Miami, Florida, key players on the North American and world DME landscape met and successfully formed a North American Affairs Group, a subgroup of the International DME Association (IDA) .

According to the IDA press release on December 8th, the North American Affairs Group (NAAC) was created “To actively promote the awareness and use of dimethyl ether (DME) as an ultra-clean, renewable, low-carbon diesel substitute throughout North America.”

Members of the IDA’s NAAC include companies leading DME’s development worldwide: energy and fuel producers Total and Methanex; engine technology companies Caterpillar, Volvo/Mack,
and Alternative Fuel Technology; process suppliers Chemrec, Lurgi and Haldor Topsoe; and renewable and biofuel producers Genifuel, LCE BioEnergy, Blue Fuel Energy, and Range Fuels; along with policy experts, The Methanol Institute, and academics from Penn State University and the University of Utah.

Appointed as the Group’s first-ever director was Richard J. LeBlanc, CEO, Chemrec AB, developer of pulp mill-integrated biorefineries that convert mill waste into BioDME. Said LeBlanc: ““The environmental benefits of DME are recognized around the world and we are pleased to be part of a trade organization that will help to build awareness and acceptance of DME in North America.” LeBlanc added that, “Many research universities and government laboratories already have confirmed the merits of DME, and now we hope to promote increased production, distribution and use of DME in North America as is happening in Asia.”

Commenting on the formation of the NAAC, IDA Chairman Jean-Alain Taupy of Total said that, “We have seen significant growth in DME’s use as a clean fuel in Asia over the past few years, and with major changes now being proposed to legislation and regulations in North America regarding transportation fuels and environmental issues, the International DME Association has formed a committee to facilitate the inclusion of DME in relevant legislation, projects, and programs now underway or proposed.”

$1.9 billion DME plant in Indonesia

BLUE FUEL ENERGY.COM: On June 25, 2009 the Jakarta Post published an article announcing the construction of a new DME plant in Indonesia, an encouraging development for proponents of this fuel around the world. Although the article notes that the DME is produced from ethanol, this clearly is a typo or a mistranslation given that DME is typically derived from methanol.