The ancient Egyptians knew how to make methanol

Why can't we do that now?

As I wrote in an earlier post, clean coal technology is nothing really new.  It is the destructive distillation of hydrocarbons, whether such hydrocarbons are coal, or biomass.  The destructive distillation, called pyrolysis, is carried out in the absence of oxygen, so little to no carbon dioxide is formed.  Instead, the hydrogen is driven out.

You can take the hydrogen and make ammonia, if the goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.  Or, the goal could be to make methanol instead, which can also be used in an internal combustion engine.  The downside to methanol, if carbon dioxide emissions are to be limited, is that it will produce that.  The possibilities are varied enough, though, that a number of strategies can be employed, which is an upside.  The biggest upside would be energy independence.   That would be bad news for oil exporting nations, which do not like us very much.

Methanol can used in flex fuel vehicles, which now are limited to ethanol.  Why the limits?  If carbon dioxide can be limited, what's the excuse then?

The excuse would be that clean coal isn't really clean.  But, how is it any dirtier than what came out of the ground anyway?  Simply put it back, and you are no worse off than before.  Most of the same stuff that was there will still be there.  More likely though, what goes back into the ground will be "cleaner" than what it was when it was taken out.

Policy makers are too addicted to oil.  Break the addiction and break the back of terrorist sponsoring states.  It would be hard for the left to oppose this.  That's why the GOP ought to embrace it.