Sustainable fuels: Lower alcohols perspective

Abstract

In the coming years, energy sources will play a vital role in global development. Biofuels made from sustainable sources are essential for the global economy's long‐term viability and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Clean, renewable, and sustainable must be the watchwords for future energy strategy. Alcohol fuels are again becoming a popular term in the context of green fuel usage in relation to climate change mitigation and clean fuel technology. In this review, low alcohol synthesis, applications and limitations as fuel and its catalytic conversion to fuel and petrochemicals were discussed, in addition to the techno‐economic evaluation, environmental implications and prospects for practical application of low alcohols as fuels and petrochemicals. The study shows that lower alcohols have emerged as a fundamental feedstock for the synthesis of fuels and value‐added chemicals due to the increased accessibility of conversion technologies in recent years, but the cost of producing lower alcohols affects their commercialization and availability.