Harvey... drop the conspiracy-theorizing. Seriously.

DME is a gas at room temperature and pressure, so I suspect that DME-supplemented fuel would require a separate DME tank and a system to add and mix DME just before the injector pump. This doesn't sound cheap.

I'm with EP - conspiracy theories are non-starters with me. Especially the "who killed the electric car" one.

The idea that manufacturers will build what is best for the ends users is a far cry from reality. Maximum profit margin is the main goal not buyers needs. That is why the Big 3 built so many 3 to 4 tons monsters and so few common sense one tonne (or less) vehicles.

One tonne vehicles have the same number of parts to assemble. The assembly cost is almost the same as for 3 to 4 ton monsters but the selling price as to be much lower. Unless you can increase assembly plants productivity or lower and/or reduce the associated labor cost, high profit oriented manufacturers will produce very large vehicles regardless of the real need for such vehicles. Those are the real facts. Japan may be the exception where people stop buying large monsters. They may be smarter buyers than we are or it may be due to much higher gas price.

The same applies to most products we buy. We like to believe that 'we the people' choose our vehicles and other products to match our needs and wallets but that is rarely true. We most often buy what the repeated Ads say what is best for us. That's how so many ended up with large mansions and large vehicles they could not afford to maintain. Banks had a hard time with all the individual bankruptcies in the last few years.

Even the Feds can't balance their budget. President Clinton (the last common sense President) used to spend and collect about 18% of the GDP. He even had surpluses. Today, the Feds collect only 15% and spend almost 25% of the GDP and is getting deeper and deeper in debt. Common sense would reduce spending from 25% to 20% of GDP and increase revenues from 15% to 20% of GDP and end up with a common sense balanced budget. It seems that the majority no longer want that?

I and some of my friends have been running diesel engines for several years doped with DME. When I suggested using an air-cooled, two cyclinder opposed diesel to power a gen-set, it goes without saying that would involve DME.

China is making very large amounts of it. I assume they are using it for something involving transportation.

Harvey you jump from one childish paranoia to another.

Our next step is to cast off the idea that manufacturers (like automakers) do not (did not) build the products that people wanted at a price people would pay.

You must stop blaming brainwashing for the fact that people did not buy what you wanted them to - they bought what THEY wanted (like big cars, even with the availability of low cost imported small cars).

I cannot believe any adult would have the patience to repeat this BS enough times that they would actually start to believe it.

Sincerely yours,
with constructive criticism,

Oil Companies will stop at nothing to derail hydrogen, thorium reactors and ethanol made from hemp.. they have 100 years of buried patents to disclose at the appropriate time to dry up funding for new age energy techs. Do not be fooled.

@HarveyD,
For the short term, we (USA) will have to suffer from the mistakes of GWB et al.

In the long term, the USA has tremendous human resources and natural resources that will support a high standard of living just like in the past.

We will need to wean off certain types of dependencies and sober up:
1. Avoid depending too much on cheap immigrant labor, legal or illegal, nor too much on foreign talents, but try to develop those at home. How much did we spend on education, again?
2. Avoid depending too much on cheap foreign labor (cheap imports) that will take away local jobs, creativity, hopes, know-how, pride, etc...
3. Avoid depending on expensive foreign oil and gas importation that will periodially collapse our economy due to energy price hike and shortage. Switch to renewable energy produced locally that will employ local labor, grow the economy, provides local jobs, increase the pay rolls thereby increase the tax base to help balance the budget,
4. The Gov. should avoid depending on borrowed money to fund entitlements, porks, illegal wars, etc...
In fact, try to live within our means and avoid borrowing money at all.

Other than the above, I see a lot of room for optimism past the immediate crisis, as long as all citizens will be taught to think like a true citizen of the USA, and put the interests of the USA above all those selfish and destructive personal interests. Together, we can do it. United, We Stand!

"For the short term, we (USA) will have to suffer from the mistakes of GWB et al."

GWB?

Guess what?
He is NO LONGER the president.

Is he the only one that has done anything?

Well, the only president that has.

Oh wait, didn't Obama help shoot Bin Ladin? Ummm NO.

Didn't he lead us to a balanced budget? Naa
Did he get us out of Guantanimo? Naa.
Out of unemployment? Naa
Out of Afganistan, Iraq and Lybia? Naa Naa Naa

Many oppose Obama's reelection simply because the world might see us still blaming GWB for our problems.

What does this have to do with DME again?

The US consumer "prefers" big vehicles because (a) they have been marketed very heavily, and (b) the US government has pursued a "cheap fuel" policy in the interests of the oil industry (and against the interests of the American public). Oil price spikes have overcome the big-truck marketing push and pushed sales to more economical vehicles, but the memory of Americans is very short.

Policy could easily reverse much of the "preference" by making economy more desirable. Higher fuel taxes and various disabilities for gas guzzlers (e.g. lower speed limits, higher registration fees, lane restrictions) would shift buyer preference immediately.