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another interesting article petey better keep eye out on new competition!!Fuel of the Future? Methanol Has "Huge Potential," Methanex CEO Says

.Americans are increasingly moving away from traditional combustion engine autos in favor of more energy efficient and cleaner burning hybrids and electric vehicles.

Toyota has had great success with its Prius model – selling more than 115,000 this year alone. The Japanese automaker continues to increase its Lexus hybrid offerings as well.

The electric car is also getting renewed attention with the high profile launch of the Chevy Volt (coming soon) and the Nissan Leaf.

Any discussion on the future of transportation would not be complete without discussing methanol, says Bruce Aitken, CEO of Methanex, the world’s largest methanol producer. Not widely used in the U.S. in cars, “30% of all methanol today goes into fuel in some way or another, it’s the sector that’s growing most rapidly as well,” Aitken says; China, for example, uses more than one billion gallons of methanol per year as a transportation fuel.

Tech Ticker caught up with Aitken in New York this week, where he was showing off the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-fuel, which runs on a mixture of gasoline, bioethanol and methanol.

The major advantage of methanol comes down to price. “The good news about methanol is it’s very inexpensive to produce relative to the competition. Today methanol sells around $1.20 per gallon,” Aitken tells Aaron in the accompanying clip. And, unlike ethanol, methanol doesn’t benefit from government subsidies that keep prices artificially low. “You don’t need subsidies; you can manufacture the stuff and it’s competitive with gasoline," he says. "That’s why it has huge potential.”

Investors apparently agree. Methanex shares are up about 62% in the last year. Aitken is confident the stock has further to run. "We’re only half way there,” he boasts. “On any sort of multiple analysis we’re still a cheap stock."

But, like the future of methanol as a transportation fuel, the market will be the ultimate judge.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/fuel-of-the-future-methanol-has-%22huge-potential%22-methanex-ceo-says-535597.html?tickers=meoh,xom,xle,OIL,tm,f,USO&sec=topStories&pos=9&asset=&ccode=