How is methane a better fuel than methanol? Methane (gas) is very difficult to compress and transport. But...?

Question

is it a more efficient fuel as a gas? What would it take to transport methane efficiently from all the various natural sources and digesters, etc? Will it be cheaper in the long-term to just convert it to a liquid? Or would improvements to the infrastructure (gas pipelines, etc) be worth the investment?

Your thoughts are appreciated!

To maninthecornner: You're right! In fact, the veterinary equivalent of Bean-O is given to cattle to prevent untimely release of that valuable fuel. That way, it arrives in a form more easily gathered for use in a methane digester.

Answer 1

Natural gas is almost entirely methane, so there is a lot of it around, even without worrying about biological production. Methane has about twice the energy per pound of methanol. Methane has been used for years for short-haul delivery vehicles; there are no particular problems in handling the stuff as the pressures are not extreme.

Answer 2

Because of the structure, methane is a tetrahedral molecule surrounded by hydrogens, so when you try to puss several of them close together the hydrogens repel each other. A fun visual picture is that compressing gas is like trying to make a room smaller by pushing in the walls. Methane is difficult because they're like four-armed (as in have four arms) people who are pushing the walls and each other away at the same time. So it takes more pressure than hydrogen because hydroge is smaller and they fit together better. If you cool down the room the people get cold and have less energy to waste in pushing things away. So methane can be compressed easier at lower temperatures.

Answer 3

Was reading in some parts of Ca. that methane was worse from cattle than cars. Flatulence from cows must be Saved and Pressurized for trial runs in new prototype low emissions cars............................................!!!