An analyst said yesterday that China’s new alternative energy sectors including fuel blending and dimethyl ether (DME) will become the key drivers of methanol demand in the next few years. “With the government paying attention to the environmental protection after Copenhagen conference, the methanol use for the more environmental alternative energy will rise further while the demand from the traditional sectors including formaldehyde and acetic acid will shrink.From the period of 2005-2008, the methanol demand from the traditional downstream sectors such as formaldehyde and acetic acid has fallen to 52% from the earlier 70%. And the consumption from the non-traditional sector showed a stark growth in the past few years.”(ICIS)