Methanol is used in transportation in 3 main ways - directly as fuel or blended with gasoline, converted in dimethyl ether (DME) to be used

as a diesel replacement, or as a part of the biodiesel production process. Methanol is an ideal fuel for transportation in large part because of its efficient combustion and low cost compared to all other fuels. When combusted, reformulated gasoline produces a number of harmful and toxic byproducts that are reduced or eliminated by replacement with methanol. Emissions of unburned carbons and carbon monoxide are much lower when consuming methanol fuel, and methanol also greatly reduces NO x emissions as well. Emissions from methanol fuel are also less reactive, and create less ground-level ozone and smog. Methanol is a high octane fuel that enables very efficient and powerful engine performance. Engines optimized for methanol are as much as 75% more efficient than conventional gasoline-fueled engines. But you can't simply put pure methanol fuel in your car today. At high levels, methanol fuel is corrosive to certain materials commonly used in engines and fuel lines. In order to be able to operate on high-level blends like M-85 (a mixture of 85% methanol and 15% gasoline), small modifcations must be made to an engine to include methanol compatible componenets. These modifications generally cost less than 0.5% the cost of a new automobile. Low-level blends of methanol though do not cause adverse effects to a car's engine., and can be used in cars today where the fuel is available without any adverse effect Methanol is used as a denaturant for ethanol fuel in many countries, and some amounts of methanol are combusted with those blends everyday.

Dimethyl Ether (DME)

Dimethyl ether (DME) and bioDME have a number of uses in products and are most commonly used as a replacement for propane in liquid petroleum gas (LPG), but can also be used as a replacement for diesel fuel in transportation. Diesel fuel contains more energy per gallon that the gasoline that we use in most passenger cars, and where pure methanol would not be able to power a diesel engine as effectively, DME can.

Today, DME is primarily produced by converting hydrocarbons via gasification to synthesis gas (syngas). Synthesis gas is then converted into methanol in the presence of catalyst (usually copper-based), with subsequent methanol dehydration in the presence of a different catalyst (for example, silica-alumina) resulting in the production of DME. its high cetane number - which measures the combustion quality of diesel fuel during compression ignition. By combusting more thoroughly, an engine tailored to run on DME can achieve higher efficiencies, better mileage and emissions reductions.