Clean-Burning Fuel for Cars : Arco to Market Methanol in Southland

In what was described as a breakthrough in the fight to reduce air pollution, Arco has reached agreement with the California Energy Commission to begin selling clean-burning, high-octane methanol fuel at service stations in the South Coast Air Basin this year.

Under the agreement, Arco will market the fuel at five stations this year and at 20 more next year, Energy Commission Chairman Charles R. Imbrecht told The Times. Newly built stations will also be equipped to dispense fuel as market demand increases.

Arco will become the first major oil company in California to market methanol, a move viewed by government regulators as a turning point in the battle to clean up the air. It is hoped that other oil companies will follow suit.

“We are extremely excited about this,” Imbrecht said. “It is, in our judgment, the real breakthrough we’ve been looking for for a long time.”

Discussions have been opened by the state Energy Commission with other oil companies, including Chevron U.S.A. Inc., that could lead to similar agreements. Together, Arco’s Petroleum Products Co. and Chevron account for 40% of the gasoline market west of the Rocky Mountains.

There are only about two dozen independent dealers who now sell methanol in California.

Until now, its use has suffered from a “chicken-and-egg” syndrome.

Major oil companies have been reluctant to spend the money to market methanol when there are few cars on the road using the fuel. On the other hand, car makers have been reluctant to build methanol-powered vehicles because the fuel has not been readily available.

In California today there are about 1,000 vehicles, mostly Ford Escorts in government and private fleets, using methanol.

Imbrecht also disclosed that discussions are under way with Ford Motor Co. about the possible production of 100,000 so-called flexible fuel vehicles than could run on gasoline or methanol. A condition of such an agreement would be that the state of California subsidize the purchase of up to 5,000 such vehicles under a program enacted by the Legislature last fall. There was no immediate comment from Ford.

Methanol is expected to be competitively priced at the pump, costing about the same as a gallon of premium gasoline. Its octane rating is as high as 110, compared to a 92 octane rating for premium unleaded gasoline. Indeed, methanol is used in Formula 1 and Indy 500 race cars. It is also less volatile than gasoline, Imbrecht said.

One drawback is that it takes about 1.7 gallons of methanol to propel a vehicle the same distance as a gallon of gasoline. This could necessitate a larger fuel tank on cars. Eventually, methanol’s mileage per gallon could improve, said Bill Sessa of the state Air Resources Board.

But from an environmental standpoint, clean-air benefits are paramount. The Southern California Rapid Transit District, for example, plans to buy 30 methanol-powered buses to replace some of the diesel buses in its fleet.

“In addition to reducing emissions from gas-powered cars, it can almost eliminate soot-like particulate emissions from diesels,” Sessa said.

Two methanol buses have operated successfully in the Golden Gate Bridge District for several years and methanol is seen as an alternative to the development of particulate traps that would be attached to diesel engines to reduce soot and other visible exhaust.

“We believe very strongly that methanol has a very important role to play in our future efforts to clean up the air,” Sessa said. “It has the ability to reduce NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions from passenger cars. It produces less reactive hydrocarbons from passenger cars. Overall, these emissions’ contribution to ozone could be reduced, and one of the big advantages is it can eliminate particulate-like soot,” Sessa said.

Studies by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have indicated that substituting methanol-fueled vehicles for all gasoline-fueled cars in California would reduce smog from these cars by 58%. The study said the substitution would result in an overall smog reduction of 14% statewide. Another study by Systems Applications Inc. for Arco projected a 22% smog reduction.

Unlike gasoline-fueled engines, which emit many types of hydrocarbons--one of the key ingredients of photochemical smog--methanol-fueled engines emit only methanol and formaldehyde, according to a joint report last year by the California Energy Commission, the state Air Resources Board and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Unburned methanol, which makes up about 90% of the organic exhaust emissions from methanol engines, forms smog much slower than gasoline exhaust.

In addition, unlike gasoline engines, methanol engines virtually eliminate emissions of benzene, a toxic air contaminant for which there is no safe amount in the atmosphere. About 90% of the benzene in the atmosphere today is attributed to motor vehicles.

On the other hand, there are concerns about the formaldehyde in methanol emissions. The three-agency report noted that formaldehyde is a “very active” component in forming ozone and is a suspected cancer-causing agent. Methanol vehicles emit up to five times more formaldehyde than gasoline vehicles.

However, Imbrecht said in an interview that a single-element catalytic converter could easily deal with the problem. “Benzene from gasoline is far more toxic than anything attributed to formaldehyde in current scientific literature,” he said.

That view was supported Thursday by John White, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club. In addition, Ron Ketchum, a spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District, said: “We consider methanol the most attractive fuel right now. It’s a relatively clean alternative fuel for gasoline and diesel. Its NOx and hydrocarbon emissions (the key ingredients of smog) are much lower.”

Aside from clean-air benefits, the federal government has expressed interest in methanol because its use would help reduce dependence on imported oil. Methanol can be derived from natural gas, coal, wood and other renewable sources.

Arco and the state Energy Commission are scheduled to formally announce the agreement today for service station sales in the South Coast Air Basin.