Do electricity generators that run on methanol exist?

Question

Methanol is probably the easiest burnable fuel to produce that is also sustainable. I'd like to produce electricity from methanol, using a device I'd call a 'Methanol Generator' - but I am struggling to find any such devices out there. Google is not helping.

Does an internal combustion engine (ICE) electrical generator that uses methanol as fuel exist? If nobody makes them, maybe a good solid methanol motor could be attached to a generator?

I don’t want a fuel cell, they are not ready for prime time. I'd be changing out membranes frequently. I've also considered solar and wind options - which are great, but I would also then require batteries for times when they are not generating, and batteries are also not ready for extensive use.

Answer 1

First of all "shopping questions" are off-topic on this website because answers are highly subjective with everyone wanting to contribute their favorite product. Also these answers tend to becoming spam magnets. That's why I won't provide any links to actual products here but instead provide some pointers that will help you search.

I suspect you are using the incorrect search terms; strictly speaking a methanol generator would be a device that generates methanol from some other substance. You probably want to search for "buy methanol fuel cell", optionally with the output level you require, or where you intend to use it (a mobile home, a boat?).

Most fuel cells you'll find on the internet are Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (a.k.a. DFMCs), ranging from from a few micro-Watt output up to 100 Watts or so.

You don't say anything about why you want to use methanol for electricity generation, or where the methanol is coming from. Although methanol can be synthesized from renewable resources, it is often derived from fossil fuels so the solution you have in mind may not be the most sustainable one.

Answer 2

Methanol is probably the easiest burnable fuel to produce that is also sustainable.

No it isn't.

The only sustainable fuels that can scale to the needed amounts are invariably based on wind/solar electricity that is used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen in electrolysis cells. The easiest fuel to produce that is sustainable is hydrogen.

The second easiest fuel to produce that may be sustainable (if you have a source of enough sustainable CO₂) is methane. To produce methane, you need to combine carbon dioxide and hydrogen in a Sabatier reactor. The downside of methane is that burning it releases carbon dioxide, so to make it truly sustainable you need to get that CO₂ from a sustainable source. The problem? If you capture all CO₂ emitted by the factories of the forestry industry (producing pulp, paper, etc), you will quickly see that the amount of CO₂ captured isn't enough to make enough methane to cover all energy uses of oil and natural gas today.

So methane is sustainable if you limit its use to only some critical areas like air and naval traffic. Usage in road transportation is already too much, the amount of sustainable CO₂ is not enough to produce enough methanol to be used in road transportation.

Producing methanol and other liquid hydrocarbons requires even more steps than producing methane or hydrogen. The cost to produce these sustainably is probably so high that the market isn't willing to pay the cost, instead preferring hydrogen or direct electricity and in some limited cases methane.

Does an internal combustion engine (ICE) electrical generator that uses methanol as fuel exist?

Oh yes. Large internal combustion engines can burn any combustible liquid or gas. Gasoline, methanol, ethanol, diesel, heavy fuel oil, methane, hydrogen.