The trucking industry and fuel production officials are touting dimethyl ether (DME), a fuel that can be derived from natural gas, as a "viable fuel for the future" that could begin to replace diesel in heavy-duty trucks without facing the distribution, storage, fueling and other infrastructure problems associated with other alternative fuels .

Promoters of the fuel say the benefit of DME is that it can be made with small-scale production modules using natural gas feedstock produced from oil drilling, biomass and wastewater treatment plants that is currently wasted because it is produced in small volumes or at remote locations. Advocates of the fuel imagine converting commercial fleets able to use the fuel and installing small-scale DME production units where the fleets are located.