Fossil or Renewable Sources for Methanol Production?

Methanol can be produced from different sources. The most prominent industrial processes for its synthesis are based on the use of traditional fossil fuels, natural gas and coal. Although the methanol process is considered to be a well-established technology, from an environmental and societal point of view, its main drawback is the use of fossil fuels. However, both academic and industrial laboratories are doing intensive research looking at ways to develop a new methanol production process that is based on the use of renewable sources, particularly biomass-based technologies. In this chapter a comparison between the traditional, fossil based, process and the different biomass based corresponding technologies will be proposed. A description of some selected processes together with an analysis of the different reactors and the catalytic systems involved and an interpretation of the corresponding kinetic models are presented.