Methanol – As a Future Alternative Fuel for Indian Automotive 2024-26-0081

Methanol fuel has attracted global attention from engine researchers since the crude oil crisis and the rise in crude oil prices in the recent years. As it is one of the possible alcoholic fuels after ethanol in an automotive application that can reduce dependence on crude oil. India has also initiated research studies on methanol since the 1980s. NITI Aayog is encouraging the use of methanol as an automotive fuel for transport sector. This desktop study includes the potentiality of methanol as an automotive fuel and the methanol roadmap for India as a biofuel in the conventional gasoline application. It has been seen that Methanol has the potential to be used as a fuel in automobiles to replace gasoline or crude oil-based fuels in terms of engine performance. According to a study, India’s methanol promotion measures will encourage more enterprises to invest in the research and construction of methanol producing plants and development of methanol-fueled engines. However, in order to extract fuel-grade methanol, meeting demand and supply chain requirements, India must invest in additional research and development in cost-effective production processes employing abundantly available of raw materials.

This paper comprises highlights of the potential of methanol fuel in the automotive industry in terms of its quality, properties, impact on engine performance, emissions, material compatibility, production strategies currently in use worldwide and in India, current methanol scenario worldwide and in India, methanol economy and methanol market forecast, Methanol demand and supply for India, safety aspects of methanol handling, and challenges.