Thermochemical production of methanol from biomass in Hawaii

Abstract

Sufficient trees or grasses can be grown in Hawaii and converted into enough methanol to replace all of the gasoline and diesel fuel consumed in the State for ground transportation. A recent Hawaii Natural Energy Institute study shows that methanol can be produced from biomass via partial oxidation for $0·16 liter −1 (wholesale price at the plant gate), based on a 760 million liter per year (MLPY) methanol plant processing 7000 tonnes day −1 of biomass feedstock (50% moisture content) from a recurring annual harvest of approximately 36 000 hectares of intensively managed, short-rotation energy crops. The capital cost of this methanol-from-biomass facility would be roughly $280 million. Sufficient hydrogen added to the synthesis gas to convert all of the biomass carbon into methanol carbon would more than double the methanol produced from the same biomass base, yielding 1700 MLPY at $0·28 liter −1 at a capital cost of $335 million.