Regarding the article “CNX plans $1.5B hydrogen fuels plant at Pittsburgh airport, but wants federal tax credit to build it” (May 15, TribLive): With all this excess methane we now have in the area, the frackers keep dreaming up ways to do something else with it.
What was not mentioned in the article was what was to be done with the byproduct of producing hydrogen, which is CO2. There has been some thought of pumping it underground. In actuality they would just release into the atmosphere. The hitch with hydrogen is that it takes more energy to make it than it gives back in energy. The best way to produce hydrogen is with dedicated wind and solar farms.
There is a different idea of what to do with all this excess frack gas. Instead, why not build a $1.5 billion refinery to convert methane to a liquid, methanol? Methanol, just like corn ethanol, can be blended with petroleum products, primarily gasoline, and used as a transportation fuel.
Methanol acquired the name wood alcohol because it was once produced by the destructive distillation of wood. Today, methanol is produced industrially by the hydrogenation of carbon monoxide in chemical refineries. Methanol, as a liquid, is easier to store and transport than hydrogen and natural gas. It can be easily adapted to use in gasoline internal combustion engines and the infrastructure that stores and delivers liquid fuel.
Larry Josephs
Penn Township, Westmoreland County