The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 623
fumes are not explosive. On the other hand, large gasoline spills often require
specialized clean-up assistance and the lingering fumes can explode even after
the liquid is removed.
So again, I say if my understanding of the chemistry involved is puerile there’s
a good reason for it, I don’t understand chemistry. Let the verbal and textual
whipping begin. But if I’m not wrong, and my childish understanding of the
chemistry is even close to being correct, then you Mr. Bryce have lots to apologize for.
The peculiarities in the use of MTBE gets even stranger regardless of the volatility issue because Methyl tertiary-butyl ether is manufactured via the chemical
reaction to methanol and isobutylene. Methanol is an alcohol. Ethanol is an
alcohol. The primary difference between the two is the raw materials from which
they are derived. In fact, methanol could be used as a direct replacement for
ethanol as a replacement for gasoline.
From my perspective, as I am not an ethanol producer or a farmer, nor am I
paid by either the ethanol industry or the farming industry, I personally would
be just as happy if we substituted all gasoline and diesel fuels with methanol
fuel. But then why do that because there are many more ethanol producers than
there are methanol producers. We might as well just use ethanol and support
our American farmers.
Incidentally, for those of you keeping score, methanol rates at about 57,000
BTUs and isobutylene rates as about 95,000 BTUs. If you combine them and
average it out it is 76,000 BTUs. If you recall from the earlier discussion on the
irrelevancy of BTUs that ethanol rates at 76,000 BTUs. Now I’m not saying that
the mere combining of methanol and isobutylene is how you manufacture
MTBE, but isn’t it strangely coincidental that the oil industry would go to all that
bother to make something that rates no more BTUs than ethanol?
So, if a chemical reaction in the combining of methanol and isobutylene was so
attractive to oil refiners as the secret ingredient in gasoline that reduced engine
knock and increased octane, then why not just cut out all the BS and go straight
to methanol, or ethanol?
I believe the answer is that the oil industry didn’t want to share any of the glory
with the ethanol industry; that’s glory spelled: P R O F I T. Because in the manufacture of MTBE the methanol that is used comes from CNG (compressed
natural gas), which is an oil refining by-product, instead of making the methanol
from biomass, agricultural and timber waste, or solid municipal waste. The
