Beyond oil and gas the methanol economy george a olah prof dr olahuscedu loker hydrocarbon research institute and department of chemistry university of southern california los angeles ca 90089 1661 usa fax 1 213 740 5087 search for more papers by this author george a olah prof dr olahuscedu loker hydrocarbon research institute and department of chemistry . The world is currently consuming about 85 million barrels of oil a day and about two thirds as much natural gas equivalent both derived from non renewable natural sources in the foreseeable future our energy needs will come from any available alternate source methanol is one such viable alternative and also offers a convenient solution for efficient energy storage on a large scale. Essays alternative energy sources beyond oil and gas the methanol economy george a olah keywords environmental chemistry hydrocarbons hydrogen methanol o il and natural gas together with coal purposes began slowly and became significant but will not fundamentally the main fossil fuels not only remain our more widespread in the 16th and 17th change the long range outlook. Beyond oil and gas the methanol economy authoers george a olah alain goeppert g k surya prakash george andrew olah distinguished professor of chemistry and chemical engineering and materials science and donald p and katherine b loker chair in organic chemistry george andrew olah was born in budapest hungary in 1927