This methanol fueling infrastructure was established by the California Energy Commission in cooperation with the State's major gasoline retailers. In addition, more than 50 private fueling stations are operated in California by individual fleet operators. Outside of California, there are an additional 40 methanol fueling stations located in 14 states and Canada. This includes 9 methanol stations operated by the New York State Thruway Authority at maintenance areas located along the length of the highway from the Tappan Zee Bridge to Buffalo. Methanol fueling stations are relatively inexpensive to build and operate.
Methanol is a liquid alcohol fuel made from clean, domestic natural gas.
In 1995, methanol production capacity from 17 U.S. plants in 8 states totaled 2.2 billion gallons. These plants meet three-quarters of U.S. methanol demand. The remaining supply comes from imports of which Canada supplies well over one-half. Produced in nearly 50 U.S. plants in 14 states, it is estimated that 3.3 billion gallons of MTBE will be used in 1996 for blending in clean, reformulated gasoline. AMI works to support the use of clean reformulated and oxygenated gasoline, promote the use of methanol as an alternative fuel, and encourage the development of emerging methanol-powered fuel cells.