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Queens Park urged by Reed JULl lit MI I Walton On February 12 released a study which he hid commissioned on fuel lit or methanol which well be the most practical mil desirable alternative for our ail requirements with respect to fuel which at counts or almost SO percent of our crude oil requirements each year Despite research and on such hydrogen coat lion it lb that for the forosceiblc future wilt be no or ready alter to the automotive- internal combustion engine requiring liquid fuel There fore the objective must be find a liquid fuel which can replace gasoline For Ontario Hut may well be methanol Its poll r meeting our needs and providing economic benefits is almost staggering can be produced from any material containing hydrocarbon In the most sources art wood munnipil crops all of which renewable and Whatever source methanol can be used either as an additive or an eventual substitute for gas It can even be made into synthetic It a natural liquid burns cleanly and is biodegradable Of course does have some I ikt gasoline it is poisonous therefore safeguards would be necessary during its lion and retail It is also substance although tins problem would largely be in the methanol gasoline blend situation or by adapting engine parts in a 100 per cent use situation The act of the matter Is that today we could fill our curb with a blend of 10 per cent methanol and our Radio TilLUHUU 1age 17 Sale prices expire March 1 1980 well a better than they do now That substitution alone would cut our oil requirements by four per cent a year A gradual conversion to per cent use would reduce our oil consumption by a full per cent If the commitment to development and distribution of methanol were made now we could make gasoline totally unnecessary as a transporta lion fuel by the turn of the to the I ibenl study More than half our methanol production could be derived from our huge resources of wood waste chips and branch left behind or burned off by our forest industries unused tries poplar plantations already in an experimental in Ontario These are new able supplies the problem of resource depletion Mould not arise Wood requirements for methanol be reduced about per cent if hydrogen were applied as feedstock to the production process This could be produced on site by electrolysis of water an OnhriDdesigncd technology using Ontario Hydros own off peak or surplus power opacity Including capability a methanol plant would require larger capital costs but since wood accounts for 10 per cent pf the cost of production and hydrogen would reduce the demand for wood by GO per cent it is an extremely viable option In addition almost per cent of the solid waste general our municipalities is a source or methanol urthermore Ontario has huge resources of lignite in the North could supply methanol plant far more than thirty While peat and farm crops may only serve to support local fuel alcohol requirements they cannot be overlooked It estimated that a commercial scale plant would require million capital startup costs 350 million if hydrogen production were included This cost compares favourably with the expected coat of the next plant on the basis of net energy delivered and Is far more costefficient than the electric power such a massive commitment has been made There would be economic side benefits to methanol production on a targe scale Even a modest programme of commercial methanol plants could produce more than jobs and almost million In salaries which would be and taxed in Ontario Conversion to methanol would produce a significant improvement in our environ The main exhaust product of methanol Is water vapour so air pollution would be greatly reduced Municipal disposal problems would be to a large degree solved Our forests w be replenish and improved