Lotus throws its weight behind methanol
Click above for hi-res gallery of the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel
British sportscar-maker and engineering firm Lotus may be known for its lightweight vehicles, but in the industry it still packs a punch as a heavyweight. It's that weight which Lotus is throwing behind methanol as the most viable alternative fuel.
Towards that end, at this year's Geneva motor show Lotus unveiled the flex-fuel 270E prototype based on the lightweight Exige sportscar. The vehicle is designed to run on gasoline, ethanol or methanol, but it's the latter which the company feels is the most viable for the near future. Like bio-ethanol, methanol can be made from natural materials, or can be made from hydrogen combined with CO2 pulled out of the thin air, which allows for zero-emissions operation. The most convenient aspect, however, is that most car engines on the road today could be converted to run on methanol.
Gallery: Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel
[Source: Automotive News Europe - subs. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 9:30AM (6/24/2008)
Methanol would be a good fuel if it was no so damn toxic.
Reply
Carney 2:03PM (12/31/2008)
No more toxic than gasoline, and unlike gasoline it is NOT a mutagen or carcinogen, and does NOT remain persisently in the environment if spilled or leaked - instead it biodegrades readily into harmless components in hours.
s13hybrid 9:38AM (6/24/2008)
I get weak in the knees when I see these cars. And it is interesting to see them take a step into alternative fuels, no matter if I agree with the one they choose or not.
Good luck Lotus!
Reply
MikeB 9:57AM (6/24/2008)
I've heard good things about butanol, it's chemistry is much better suited for use as a gas replacement than ethanol. There are a couple efforts to build bio-butanol plants to work out the economics of production, but the fuel itself seems run fine in standard unmodified gasoline engines.
Reply
T2 10:53AM (6/24/2008)
This story being filed under the 'Ethanol' tag. ABG should start a 'methanol' tag. From what I have read the Methanol Economy makes far more sense.
Toxicity of methyl alcohol - sure it's not in the hydrazine class but what info do you have ?
Isn't this another name for methylated spirits ? I remember this stuff for cooking in Coleman heaters when camping so it can't be that dangerous - Want dangerous ? Then keep bleach under the sink for a 3yr old to find or forget to tighten a loose top on a windshield washer anti-freeze bottle.
T2
Reply
Munson 10:56AM (6/24/2008)
So I can run my car on farts! That is so awsome!
Reply
Keith Wakeham 6:26AM (6/25/2008)
Pulling CO2 from thin air...... much much much much much.... x100 harder than it sounds. Right now we can capture the CO2 from plants the easiest. We are years away from being able to easily capture it from air from my understanding.
However if someone knows something about it that I don't, and can easily separate CO2 from air then speak up. You're sitting on the solution of global warming.
Reply
Mulad 11:40AM (6/24/2008)
I'd like to know what they're smoking where they think it's easier to convert an engine to run on methanol than it is to convert it for ethanol. All I've read says that ethanol is less corrosive. Ethanol is also more energy-dense than methanol (if you thought you got crappy mileage in an E85 car, you'll get even worse in a methanol one). The toxicity is a problem too.
Reply
Serge 11:57AM (6/24/2008)
Munson: unless your fart contains methanol, I would contain the jubilance for now ;)
Reply
OhmExcited 12:27PM (6/24/2008)
http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=62865
Quoting from Set America Free news:
For a long time Set America Free has emphasized the benefits of full fuel flexibility which includes ALL alternative fuels, not only ethanol. We have nothing against ethanol but we oppose the myopic, ethanol-only approach that currently dominates our energy debate.
Volvo has recently validated our approach, producing seven truly flexible diesel trucks modified to run solely on biodiesel, ethanol, methanol, DME, synthetic diesel, and hydrogen gas combined with biogas. Volvo conducted a comprehensive assessment of which fuels faired the best. There were seven categories: impact on climate, energy efficiency, land use efficiency, fuel potential, fuel costs, vehicle adaptation, and fuel infrastructure.
The results may surprise many:
Volvo showed that ethanol and methanol work equally well in the same system which means that there is no reason why flex fuel cars sold in the U.S. not be able to run on methanol in addition to ethanol.
Second, the comparative study showed that DME and methanol ranked among the highest in all but the last two, while ethanol ranked low to lowest in all categories.
The promising results for methanol and DME were based on the assumption that the fuels would be produced via the black liquor gasification process, which has been developed in Sweden. Black liquor is a sludge byproduct of paper pulping.
According to the methanol Institute if every paper mill in the U.S. used this process we could produce 9.3 billion gallons of methanol per year–almost double the amount of corn ethanol currently produced in the U.S.
Reply
Tim 1:45PM (6/24/2008)
Here is more on Methanol's toxicity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol
By the way, Black Liquor is currently used to produce steam for the paper mills. The digesters require a LOT of heat and strong chemicals to break down the wood fibers. If they use the Black Liquor to make methanol, what will they use to make steam? Will they have to ship in coal or perhaps they could use Parabolic Trough Solar-thermal?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_trough
Reply
Doug 3:52PM (6/24/2008)
Methanol is only really a problem if you drink it. That's been known to happen by accident by careless people around the lab. So don't drink it, and be sure to label your beakers, folks! :)
If you do happen to drink some, guess what the cure is... ethanol. That's why you should always keep a bottle of vodka in your desk drawer.
Anyone know how much energy is required to synthesize methanol? How does the total energy involved compare to using a hydrogen fuel cell (including the energy required to compress or liquefy H2 for storage in a fuel tank)?
Reply
Adam Vaughan 7:15AM (6/25/2008)
I saw this car last month. It looks identical to the normal Exige -- the only differences are inside at the back.
Photos:
http://www.smartplanet.com/news/transport/10001211/photos-sexy-green-car-show-2008.htm
Video:
http://www.smartplanet.com/news/transport/10001214/video-sexy-green-car-show-2008.htm
Reply