Here is a link for interesting presentation on alternative-fuel vehicles. The excerpt below has some numbers on well-to-wheel efficiencies for Methanol versus Gasoline.
Holmes full commentary makes me glad we are not allied with Exxon! He completely ignores Hydrogen: house.gov
FUEL CHOICES FOR FUEL CELL POWERED VEHICLES, October 5, 1999
Written statement of John W. Holmes, Exxon Corporation
Corporate Planning, Energy Division Manager
on behalf of The American Petroleum Institute
before the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment of the Committee on Science. U.S. House of Representatives
Excerpt:
Effective utilization of fuels not only requires a highly efficient vehicle, but also an efficient fuel production process. In other words, analyses that only measure vehicle efficiency are incomplete. The comparison of various fuels needs to extend from the initial production / manufacture, through the logistics system, and finally, on-board the vehicle ("well-to-wheels"). Considering the many steps involved, turning crude oil into transportation fuels is a remarkably efficient process. Gasoline based fuels retain about 85% of the energy originally contained in the crude oil. Methanol manufacturing consumes considerably more energy than it takes to produce gasoline or other hydrocarbon fuels. Process limitations hold the efficiency of manufacture and distribution of natural gas based methanol to roughly 63%. The production of methanol from coal is even less efficient, at roughly 54%.
Today's mid-sized passenger cars are about 18% energy efficient. Factoring in the energy it takes to manufacture the fuel results in a "well-to-wheel" efficiency for today's internal combustion engine of about 15%. Advances in internal combustion engine technology (e.g., direct injection) could increase the efficiency to 20%. In a gasoline-powered hybrid or fuel cell design, a vehicle?s efficiency could double. This would increase the "well-to-wheel" efficiency to more than 30%.
As noted above, the production of methanol is inherently less efficient than gasoline. Thus, despite the increased vehicle efficiency of a methanol fuel cell system, the resultant "well-to-wheel" efficiency would be only 23% - substantially lower than either gasoline hybrids or gasoline fuel cell vehicles. If methanol is produced from coal, the overall efficiency drops below that which can be achieved with advanced internal combustion technologies. |
