Scientists turn methane into methanol at room temperature
— Read on phys.org/news/2021-07-scientists-methane-methanol-room-temperature.html

Methanol—the simplest alcohol—is used to make various products, like paints and plastics, and as an additive to gasoline. Rich in hydrogen, methanol can drive new-age fuel cells that could yield significant environmental benefits.

If natural gas, of which methane is the primary component, could be converted economically into methanol, the resulting liquid fuel would be much more easily stored and transported than natural gas and pure hydrogen. That also would greatly reduce the emissions of methane from natural gas processing plants and pipelines. Today, escaped methane, a greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide, nearly negates the environmental advantages of natural gas over oil and coal. The team’s new study in the current edition of Science is their latest to advance a low-energy way to produce methanol from methane.