Methanol for All? : ‘Cleaner’ Fuel May Be Coming Into Its Own to Help Banish Smog

Meredith Lanz says he nearly “jumped for joy” two weeks ago when he saw President Bush on television promoting the use of methanol to fuel cars as one way to clean up the nation’s air.

Lanz drives an unexceptional-looking 1983 Ford Escort that runs only on methanol, an odorless, colorless liquid made from natural gas or coal. Widespread use of this “cleaner” fuel, state and federal officials say, could reduce smog levels in Southern California by up to 15%.

“Maybe now I’ll be able to find more fuel pumps,” Lanz said.

The unusual fuel has boosted acceleration and posed no mechanical problems, said Lanz, who works for Anaheim’s municipal electric utility. But methanol is scarce, and at 11 miles per gallon, Lanz needs a lot of it.

On Monday, one of the county’s first commercial methanol pumps will open for business at a Chevron station at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue in Anaheim. Although the station is already supplying methanol under contract to Anaheim for its Escorts, the Bush Administration’s interest in methanol has caused the California Energy Commission to choose the station as the site for a press conference to be attended by the chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.) and other dignitaries.

The county’s only other methanol pump is at an Arco station used by the cities of Orange and Santa Ana, at the corner of Main Street and MacArthur Boulevard in Santa Ana.

Still, Lanz is a strong advocate of using methanol to help reduce air pollution.

But John Heeks, a city of Orange building inspector, won’t go near the stuff.

Heeks’ city-owned, 1983 Ford Escort had stalled on State College Boulevard last Aug. 1, and he had just radioed his dispatcher for help when the car burst into flames. Methanol had eaten through a rubber fuel line and spilled onto the Escort’s hot engine.

“I was lucky to get out alive,” Heeks said of the fire. “I will never drive a methanol car ever again, if I can help it.”

The methanol-powered, 1983 Escorts driven by Lanz and Heeks are two out of a total of a dozen used experimentally as fleet vehicles by the cities of Orange, Anaheim and Santa Ana. So far, experts say, the cars, which cannot run on anything but methanol, have performed well mechanically and are no more dangerous than gasoline-powered vehicles.

Although the fuel costs less than gasoline--usually 69 to 93 cents per gallon--the low mileage for methanol means that fuel costs are actually higher. The reason for the low mileage is that methanol burns cooler than gasoline, reducing the fuel’s efficiency as a heat source in the combustion process. One result, however, is about a 7% improvement in horsepower.

Reliability is about the same as for a gasoline-powered car, although stainless steel parts have had to be substituted in the carburetors and other fuel-system components to prevent corrosion.

And now, the next generation of methanol-fueled vehicles, which can also run on gasoline, is about to arrive, each costing $200 to $500 more than a gasoline-only vehicle.

At the urging of Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder, who sits on the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, Orange County government is negotiating for two of these new variable-fuel Ford Crown Victoria sedans under a state-run program, and Santa Ana is attempting to get three. Other local government agencies are expected to share in a fleet of more than 2,000 variable-fuel Chevy Luminas, Corsicas and Ford Crown Victorias that are to arrive in California during the next few months as part of the state’s effort to promote increased production of the vehicles by automakers.

Officials said there were 300 requests for the first batch of 200 new variable-fuel cars delivered to the state.

Despite the sudden influx of new vehicles, methanol cars will be experimental for the next few years--sold to government agencies and not to the public. The Orange County Transit District will soon have three buses testing a variety of alternate fuels--methanol, compressed natural gas and propane. Until recently, propane has been dominant as a cleaner alternative to gasoline.

OCTD, for example, already operates its 135 dial-a-ride vans on propane, and some private companies, such as The Times, have long used propane in delivery trucks. But state officials say propane is a “dirtier” fuel than methanol and thus enthusiasm for it is not as high.

Methanol can be made from coal or natural gas and produces engine exhaust that creates 50% less ozone--a key ingredient in smog--than gasoline, according to state officials.

“The biggest negative--and it’s a big one--is the lack of pumps,” says Lanz of Anaheim’s electric utility.

Once after he ran out of fuel, towed the car to the pump and refilled it, Lanz recalls, he couldn’t restart the engine until “a young kid came by and said, ‘Hey, is that methanol? You have to prime the carburetor.’ We might still be standing there if that guy hadn’t said anything. I don’t know who he was, or how he knew.

“I don’t dare take it very far away,” Lanz says. “I don’t even like to take it into Los Angeles, because if you start out without a full tank and hit any kind of traffic jam, you could be in a lot of trouble.”

The fuel-availability problem may be nearing a partial solution. Under recent agreements with the state, several oil companies plan to open methanol pumps in the next year or two.

“I like the idea of using methanol,” Lanz says, “because I’m interested in anything that will help make the air more breathable. I grew up in this area, and I can see the way it’s gotten worse. I can see the difference from 30 or 40 years ago.”

WHAT IS METHANOL?

* It’s a colorless, odorless, volatile and flammable liquid that is pumped like gasoline.

* Can be made from natural gas, coal, wood or any decomposing biological mass. It also can be synthesized from carbon monoxide and hydrogen.

* It produces about 50% less ozone--a key component of smog--than gasoline.

* It already is used in antifreeze, solvents and in the manufacture of formaldehyde, powders and paint.