An Economic Evaluation of Methanol Blends in Canadian Markets

he use of methanol as a blending component in the production of gasoline has increased markedly in recent years. For example, a blend of 3 per cent methanol, 3 per cent cosolvent (higher alcohols) and 94 per cent gasoline is currently used to meet almost three-quarters of West Germany's gasoline requirements (Energy, Mines and Resources Canada, 1984). In addition, methanol blends are now sold in some US markets.1 This is in sharp contrast to the case of straight (or neat) methanol where the high vehicle conversion costs greatly diminish its attractiveness as a transportation fuel (see Dupont and Diener (1985) for an evaluation of neat methanol in a Canadian context). While a number of vehicle test programs to evaluate the performance of methanol blends under Canadian driving conditions have been undertaken and have produced excellent results (for example, see Ontario Research Foundation, 1984; Taylor, 1984), these fuels are not commercially available here at present. Yet, there would appear to be the potential for substantial benefits associated with this alternative. These in-