Methanol Car Steers Killea in New Course

State Sen. Lucy Killea (D-San Diego) pulled her new methanol-fueled white Chevy Lumina through the middle of a crowd of photographers, reporters, state officials and business people Tuesday and ably parallel-parked against a wall.

Although she’d only driven the car since Friday, Killea stuck firm to her belief that methanol is a better and more practical automobile fuel than gasoline.

“Methanol has several advantages over gasoline, not the least of which is the reduction of our dependence on foreign sources of energy,” she said in a press release.

As for environmental effects, methanol-fueled cars emit 40% less carbon monoxide than their gas-fueled counterparts, Killea added.

Methanol is a thermal chemical product made from anything containing carbon, such as coal, biomass and natural gas and has a resource base that is 10 to 100 times more available than that of gasoline, said Franklin Jerry Wiens, an energy fuels specialist with the California Energy Commission.

It is now available at many gas stations throughout the state, he said.

Killea’s car, like hundreds of similar models now being test-driven throughout the country, can take any combination of gas, methanol or ethanol, Wiens said. A mixture of 85% methanol and 15% gas that Killea filled her tank with Tuesday cost 86 cents per gallon.

Cars similar to Killea’s cost a maximum of $13,000, depending on options purchased, said Bob Baker, a local Chevrolet dealer.

Someone pointed out that methanol’s efficiency prompted Indianapolis 500 drivers to fuel their cars with the product. “Well, I don’t try to get to that speed, but it suits my purposes,” Killea said, laughing.