Free Republic

The American man who died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos has been identified. James Louis Hutson, 57, was found dead inside his room at the Nana Backpacker Hotel in Vang Viang on November 13. According to the Vientiane Times, workers at the hostel had entered his room after realizing he had not left all day and found him unconscious. The outlet reported that he was taken to hospital, with police finding four empty bottles of beer and two empty bottles of vodka in his room. Hutson is one of six who have died in the suspected mass methanol poisoning...

As the world seeks economical and efficient methods to produce and utilize sustainable energy sources, Germany is following this noble cause by shifting its fuel type from hydrogen to Methanol for engines. This change aims to cut pollution levels and improve efficiency in sectors like shipping. MAN Energy Solutions, a market leader in this niche, has developed methanol-ready four-stroke engines for substantial emissions cuts. These engines are set to enable the maritime sector to use cleaner fuels, offering a solution to the shift from current marine fuels. MAN’s methanol-ready engines to fuel the future: How advanced technology is revolutionizing maritime...

It turns out space helmets serve a dual purpose - to keep air in and stink out. Just like Earth, the universe emits various smells from every corner of the never-ending universe, often of which are generally unpleasant, Space.com reported, citing numerous space expeditions over the decades. Although it is impossible to take a whiff of the cosmos without facing certain death, astronauts have long described strong odors clinging to their space suits after they return to their air-locked chambers. Metallic, burnt meat Those aboard the Apollo moon landings described the scent as gunpowder-like, while others who traversed the International...

Methanol was found in all of their bodies and investigations are continuing to determine whether the levels of the toxic chemical were enough to have killed them. “Methanol has been detected in all the 21 individuals that were there, however there is still progressive analysis of the quantitative levels of methanol and whether it could have been the final cause of death,” Dr. Litha Matiwane, Eastern Cape provincial deputy director for clinical service, said at press conference in East London Tuesday.

Hundreds of Iranians seeking a "magic cure" for coronavirus paid with their lives after drinking methanol. Iranian media reported that at least 300 people died in the past few weeks after false reports claimed that drinking methanol aided recovery from coronavirus. After over 2,500 people in Iran died from the virus, and another 33,000 were confirmed carriers, many Iranians turned to the "magic cures" offered to them. One of these "cures" was drinking methanol, a flammable, poisonous and colorless form of alcohol which is used as fuel and anti-freeze, and which can be used as a lethal poison. Many Iranians...

More than 300 people have died and a further 1,000 have fallen ill in Iran after consuming methanol in the belief that it will protect them against the coronavirus, according to local media. Fake remedies have spread across Iranian social media, with methanol simply the latest supposed cure. As an Islamic nation, the consumption of alcohol is banned, but bootleggers have distributed industrial alcohol. “Other countries have only one problem, which is the new coronavirus pandemic,” said Dr. Hossein Hassanian, an adviser to Iran’s Health Ministry who claimed that the problem could be more severe than reported. “We have to...

Costa Rica has issued a national alert about tainted alcohol after 19 people were confirmed to have died over the past few weeks from methanol poisoning. The government says several alcohol brands have been tainted with methanol, a poisonous alcohol found in solvents and antifreeze. Since early June, 14 men and five women across Costa Rica have died from methanol poisoning, according to the Ministry of Health. They ranged in age from 32 to 72. Seven of the deaths were in the San Jose province, which includes San Jose, the most populous city in Costa Rica. The Ministry of Health...

Abbey Conner had only been at Iberostar Paraiso Del Mar for a few hours in January 2017 when her family says hotel staff served her and her older brother Austin tainted alcohol at a hotel pool. Soon after, her family said, Abbey was found by hotel staff floating face down, while her brother was drowning nearby in shallow water. Abbey later died at a Florida hospital; her brother survived. According to the new wrongful death lawsuit filed in Florida and obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the resort knew "that alcoholic beverages being served" were "tainted, substandard, poisonous," and "unfit...

The Trump administration seems to be leaning towards allying with the oil refining industry in its fight against Big Corn and federal rules requiring the use of corn ethanol. Reuters reports that the U.S. EPA apparently granted an exemption to Andeavor, a large oil refiner, from having to comply with blending requirements as part of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) last month. The RFS requires refiners to blend biofuels, such as corn ethanol, into their refined fuels. If they can’t or find it too costly, they are required to purchase credits. The law dates back to 2007 under the George...

America’s anti-fracking enviros had a strange benefactor. While allegations of the Donald Trump campaign colluding with Russians to alter the presidential election outcome remain unproven at best, a clear money trail and U.S. intelligence reports demonstrate Russia’s active campaign of funding U.S. environmental groups. On March 1, U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee’s chairman, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), released a report on “Russia’s Social Media Meddling in U.S. Energy Markets.” The report details Russia’s motives in interfering with U.S. energy markets, influencing domestic energy policy, and manipulation of Americans via social media propaganda. “This report reveals that Russian agents...

A Chinese chemical company says it has begun building a $1.85 billion plant in St. James Parish, about 15 miles north of Thibodaux, that promises to create hundreds of jobs. Yuhuang Chemical began construction on the methanol plant in January and expects to complete the complex, along the Mississippi River, in late 2019, the company said in a news release Thursday. “The first phase of the project is a $1.5 billion methanol manufacturing complex,” the company said. “Two more phases are set to follow, leading to the employment of 100 permanent workers. The plant is also expected to create around...

(Phys.org)—A team of researchers from Belgium and the U.S. has identified the active site of an iron-containing catalyst that has raised hopes for designing a practically useful catalyst that might make converting methane to methanol a possibility. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the researchers describe their efforts, what they discovered and why they believe their findings may lead to a practical way to convert methane to a more efficient energy resource. Jay Labinger, with the California Institute of Technology offers a News & Views piece outlining the work done by the team in the same journal issue....

Celanese Corp. is considering expanding its South Texas chemical plant to produce methanol, the company has announced. Building a methanol unit at the plant in Bishop near Corpus Christi would be the latest move by the Dallas-based chemical company to capitalize on an abundance of cheap U.S. shale gas. Celanese has been building a new methanol unit in Clear Lake, southeast of Houston under a joint venture with Mitsui & Co., one of Japan’s largest generally traded companies. The project, which should be finished by October, will have the capacity to produce 1.3 million tons of methanol per year. Made...

The Scripps Energy and Materials Center (SEMC)Transformer. A catalyst made with thallium (orange) readily converts methane (gray and white molecule) into liquid methanol, a starting point for producing commodity chemicals and fuels. Natural gas is great at heating our houses, but it’s not so good at fueling our cars—at least not yet. Researchers in the United States have discovered a new and more efficient method for converting the main components in natural gas into liquids that can be further refined into either common commodity chemicals or fuels. The work opens the door to displacing oil with abundant natural gas—and reducing...

Université Laval researchers have developed a highly effective method for converting CO2 into methanol, which can be used as a low-emissions fuel for vehicles. The team led by Professor Frédéric-Georges Fontaine presents the details of this discovery in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Researchers have been looking for a way to convert carbon dioxide into methanol in a single step using energy-efficient processes for years. "In the presence of oxygen, methanol combustion produces CO2 and water," explained Professor Fontaine. "Chemists are looking for catalysts that would yield the opposite reaction. That would allow us...

Credit: Diego Sanz; (inset) iStockphoto BALTIMORE, MARYLAND—There's nothing like suddenly going blind to spoil a good happy hour. Alcoholic beverages tainted with poisonous methanol are a scourge of the developing world, causing blindness and even death. The dangerous drinks can come from botched batches of home-distilled liquor, but they often have a more sinister origin; criminal gangs will cut standard alcohols with methanol and sell the resulting concoctions to unassuming customers for inflated profits. Because adding methanol doesn't change the drink's flavor, color, or smell, there's no easy way to tell if the brew you're about to imbibe could...

British Engineers Produce Amazing 'Petrol From Air' Technology Revolutionary new technology that produces “petrol from air” is being produced by a British firm, it emerged tonight. Andrew Hough 18 Oct 2012 A small company in the north of England has developed the “air capture” technology to create synthetic petrol using only air and electricity. Experts tonight hailed the astonishing breakthrough as a potential “game-changer” in the battle against climate change and a saviour for the world’s energy crisis. The technology, presented to a London engineering conference this week, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The “petrol from air” technology involves...

Copper -- the stuff of pennies and tea kettles -- is also one of the few metals that can turn carbon dioxide into hydrocarbon fuels with relatively little energy. When fashioned into an electrode and stimulated with voltage, copper acts as a strong catalyst, setting off an electrochemical reaction with carbon dioxide that reduces the greenhouse gas to methane or methanol. Various researchers around the world have studied copper’s potential as an energy-efficient means of recycling carbon dioxide emissions in powerplants: Instead of being released into the atmosphere, carbon dioxide would be circulated through a copper catalyst and turned into...

Methanol WinsIt's time to open up the Open Road with H.R. 1687. On August 2, I published an open wager on National Review Online. I offered to bet up to ten people $10,000 each that I could take my 2007 Chevy Cobalt, which is not a flex-fuel car, and, running it on 100 percent methanol, get at least 24 miles per gallon on the highway. Since methanol averages less than half the price of gasoline — and can readily be made from coal, natural gas, or any kind of biomass without exception — this would demonstrate superior transportation economy from...

Achieving $2 GasIt’s possible, with the right policy. Republican presidential contender Michele Bachman has said that if she is elected, gas prices will fall to $2 per gallon. Such promises have understandably been greeted with considerable skepticism. But $2 gas is exactly what America needs. The question is, how can we get it? We can’t do it just by expanded domestic drilling. In order for gasoline prices to fall to $2 per gallon, oil prices must be cut to $50 per barrel. And oil prices are set globally, with the dominating influence being the OPEC oil cartel. Since 1973, this cartel,...