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Alternative Fuels for Transportation
producing areas, there is a significant amount of this resource available,
and a significant portion of the heavy duty transport markets could be supplied by DME from this source. On a worldwide basis, the annual energy
in black liquor in the world was stated to be equivalent to 30 million tons
of gasoline.
6.3.3 DMe Production economics
The economics of any alternative fuel is a critical issue. Since many alternative fuels must be made from other raw materials, there is often an economic
disadvantage due to the processing needed. This means that the price of the
raw material is important, but not the sole factor in determining price.
It is very difficult to quote accurate economic factors related to alternative
fuels. This is due to several considerations. First of all, the price of energy
resources is quite variable, as shown by the excursions of oil prices in the last
decade, where variations of nearly an order of magnitude in crude oil price
have been observed. Secondly, proposed alternative fuels may not have been
produced in the quantities required for large scale usage yet, giving uncertainties due to estimation of efficiencies and prices of processes not previously conducted on that scale. This uncertainty is small in the case of DME
by the indirect method, since the methanol production technology and dehydration of methanol have been in practical use for a long time. Currently,
much of the world’s methanol is made in so-called mega methanol plants,
which are of a similar size (natural gas consumption) to those proposed for
fuel use. Dehydration units have been smaller due to the demand for aerosol
DME. Direct production methods have so far been tested in smaller pilot
scale projects. The JFE direct process in Japan has been successfully tested
on a unit of 100 tons per day (Ohno 2006). Thus, though many of the technologies in production are well understood and have been in practice for
some time, only methanol production on the scale involved for fuel DME has
been practiced recently. Thirdly, prices stated in the literature may be colored
by the interests of the presenter. It is not unheard of for an advocate of an
alternative fuel to present the most optimistic scenarios, and an opponent to
present the most pessimistic.
The factors involved in determining the cost of producing and delivering
DME are many. The more important factors are listed below:
• Raw material (feedstock costs)
• Plant investment
• Plant operating expenses: utilities, staff, local taxes
• Shipping expense: long distance for imported DME produced in
other countries, short distance for local and regional distribution
• Storage facilities: large scale for imported DME produced in other
countries, small scale for local distribution
Alternative Fuels for Transportation
producing areas, there is a significant amount of this resource available,
and a significant portion of the heavy duty transport markets could be supplied by DME from this source. On a worldwide basis, the annual energy
in black liquor in the world was stated to be equivalent to 30 million tons
of gasoline.
6.3.3 DMe Production economics
The economics of any alternative fuel is a critical issue. Since many alternative fuels must be made from other raw materials, there is often an economic
disadvantage due to the processing needed. This means that the price of the
raw material is important, but not the sole factor in determining price.
It is very difficult to quote accurate economic factors related to alternative
fuels. This is due to several considerations. First of all, the price of energy
resources is quite variable, as shown by the excursions of oil prices in the last
decade, where variations of nearly an order of magnitude in crude oil price
have been observed. Secondly, proposed alternative fuels may not have been
produced in the quantities required for large scale usage yet, giving uncertainties due to estimation of efficiencies and prices of processes not previously conducted on that scale. This uncertainty is small in the case of DME
by the indirect method, since the methanol production technology and dehydration of methanol have been in practical use for a long time. Currently,
much of the world’s methanol is made in so-called mega methanol plants,
which are of a similar size (natural gas consumption) to those proposed for
fuel use. Dehydration units have been smaller due to the demand for aerosol
DME. Direct production methods have so far been tested in smaller pilot
scale projects. The JFE direct process in Japan has been successfully tested
on a unit of 100 tons per day (Ohno 2006). Thus, though many of the technologies in production are well understood and have been in practice for
some time, only methanol production on the scale involved for fuel DME has
been practiced recently. Thirdly, prices stated in the literature may be colored
by the interests of the presenter. It is not unheard of for an advocate of an
alternative fuel to present the most optimistic scenarios, and an opponent to
present the most pessimistic.
The factors involved in determining the cost of producing and delivering
DME are many. The more important factors are listed below:
• Raw material (feedstock costs)
• Plant investment
• Plant operating expenses: utilities, staff, local taxes
• Shipping expense: long distance for imported DME produced in
other countries, short distance for local and regional distribution
• Storage facilities: large scale for imported DME produced in other
countries, small scale for local distribution