Alcohols: The Automotive Fuels of the Future

Alternative fuels which might be used should world oil supplies be exhausted are discussed in the GAO Review, Vol. 17, Issue 1, Winter 1982. Alcohol fuels, in the form of either ethanol or methanol, are discussed as alternatives which can be produced in commercial quantities with available technology at reasonably competitive costs. According to the article, ethanol was already being produced at a rate of 100 million gallons at the end of 1980; but methanol is not being used because it is a new fuel and no infrastructure is in place for its production, distribution, and use.