Korea Gas to offer "clean" dimethyl ether as cooking fuel

South Korea's state-run natural gas monopoly will start providing a low-cost "clean fuel" based on dimethyl ether (DME) to households later this month, with the hope that its use will eventually spread to automobiles.

Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) project manager Baek Young Soon told Bloomberg over the weekend that the company's DME fuel – made from a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide that is synthesized from natural gas, coal and biomass – would be offered to households as a cooking fuel for a 12-month trial period.

"Supplying the mixed fuel to households is the first stage," Baek said. "DME could eventually replace diesel in trucks and buses once it gains wider recognition as an alternative fuel."

His comments follow the signing of a memorandum of understanding by Kogas and the Saudi Arabian government for the construction of a US$338m (£200m) DME plant by 2013. The facility, to be located in the Arab nation's industrial Jubail region, would initially produce 300,000 tons of DME annually, rising to one million tons a year pending sufficient demand.

All of the plant's DME output would be sent to South Korea where it would be sold through Kogas' distribution network, an unnamed Kogas official told Platts media service.

Proponents of DME say the sulphur-free fuel is a source of green energy that is 95 per cent carbon neutral. In comparison with other fuels, it purportedly discharges fewer greenhouse gas emissions when combusted. Additionally, DME is said to decompose into CO2 and water in the atmosphere without forming ozone.

Sweden's Volvo is the auto industry's most prominent supporter of DME as alternative fuel for motor vehicles. It recently announced plans to test-run 14 Volvo trucks using the fuel in Sweden over the next two years.

The initiative is part of the Swedish government's target of becoming an oil-free nation by 2030 – a scheme intended to break its heavy dependence on fuel imports. South Korea is likewise heavily dependent on foreign energy sources, which currently supply 97 per cent of the nation's power needs.

Despite the growth of green vehicles – including the Elantra hybrid by leading South Korean automaker Hyundai – Kogas estimates that "it will take at least 40 years until electric cars become mainstream", Baek told Bloomberg. "Until then, DME will be one of the best alternative fuels. "