In quest for greater efficiency in ICE's ethanol (& methanol) could provide a much needed boost

[hunter]

2. By this standard DME in a diesel engine is even better.

Volvo Trucks to begin limited production of DME heavy-duty trucks in NA in 2015; customer trials; Oberon partnership
June 07, 2013

At an event in Sacramento, California, Volvo Trucks announced that it will commercialize dimethyl ether (DME)-powered heavy-duty commercial vehicles in North America, with limited production beginning in 2015. Volvo also revealed ongoing customer field testing of DME trucks in the US (with Safeway and Martin Transportation), as well as its partnership in the customer trials with startup DME producer Oberon Fuels. Oberon Fuels is the first company to announce plans to commercialize DME fuel production in North America.

DME offers diesel-quality performance with a high cetane number and low auto-ignition temperature, but burns cleanly without producing any soot. It is non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, and can be made from a variety of sustainable domestic sources, as well as from North America’s abundant supply of natural gas. The carbon intensity of the DME will vary with the feedstock, but with the use of bio-gas (biomethane) from an anaerobic digester as input into the Oberon process, DME can provide up to a 95% CO2 reduction compared to diesel. Volvo has been testing Bio-DME in Sweden since 2009.

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2013/06/dme-20130607.html

The problem with methanol is it's so damned corrosive; it eats many metals and plastics and it interferes with lubrication. Los Angeles experimented with methanol buses in the late 'eighties and early nineties but abandoned them because of maintenance problems.