Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Economy - Environment economics, grade: 1,3, University of Applied Sciences Constanze, course: Environment Economics, language: English, abstract: This essay is about the engines and fuels of the future in the automotive industry. It tries to find out whether these technologies are suitable for the purpose to reduce pollutant emissions. Furthermore, it will consider the potential of the engines/fuels which they can contribute to an sustainable energy supply in the traffic sector, independent of the use of crude oil.

In October 1975, while the United States was still acutely feeling the aftermath of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, the General Motors Research Laboratories held its nineteenth annual symposium. The proceedings of this timely symposium on "Future Automotive Fuels - Prospects, Performance, and Perspective" are reported in this book. We hope that it will serve not only as a permanent record of the papers and discussions, but also as a stimulus and inspiration for ideas, research, and development in the vital field of automotive fuels. The economy of the United States and the lifestyle of her people are woven together with energy into a unique fabric. Reducing the energy content of this fabric weakens it and can even destroy it. The Oil Embargo stunningly demonstrated how easy it is to attack this fabric, and exposed for all to see its greatest weaknes- reliance on imported petroleum. Since petroleum is the only current source of automotive fuels, and cars and trucks consume about 43 percent of the petroleum used in the United States, the Oil Embargo had its most profound and dramatic on automotive transportation: First there were long lines at service stations, impact and then idle lines in car assembly plants and long lines at unemployment offices. Against this grim setting, we planned the symposium on automotive fuels for the future.

This book sheds light on three essential questions: 1. What is the likely supply of gasoline and diesel from oil worldwide to power light vehicles and trucks through 2030-2035? 2. Could any other fuel economically replace gasoline? Will different parts of the world answer that question differently? 3. How will the answers to these questions affect what we engineer, make, and drive in 2030–2035? As difficult as it is to predict timing of these events, the book presents reasonable assumptions and alternative scenarios. Since a switch to alternative technologies will require substantial investment, it is critical to have a sense of when. Despite the global reach of the automotive industry, it is unlikely that a solution for one region will fit all. A more reasonable goal is a set of projected ‘ecosystems’ using differing amounts of oil, electricity, or alternative fuels. From this, automotive managers and leaders can get a sense of how to make business decisions for the future. To frame comparisons, the author qualitatively assesses each alternative against these criteria: 1. energy density 2. scale 3. efficiency of use 4. consumer convenience 5. vehicle technical maturity 6. delivery infrastructure maturity 7. production infrastructure maturity 8. rate of progress Some alternative fuels will naturally be higher in some categories than others. For example, gasoline has higher energy density but when burned in internal combustion engines, has low efficiency. Batteries, on the other hand, have low energy density but are efficient for powering electric motors. For mapping out a long-term future and deciding how best to invest resources, a comparison of these critical criteria should help. The book is concisely written for executives, decision-makers, academics, automotive engineers and others who want or need a long-range view of trends that will influence vehicle fuels for the next 20 years.

Based on previsions, the reciprocating internal combustion engine will continue to be widely used in all sectors: transport, industry, and energy production. Therefore, its development, while complying with the limitations of pollutants as well as CO2 emission levels and maintaining or increasing performance, will certainly continue for the next few decades.In the last three decades, a significant effort has been made to reduce pollutant emission levels. More recently, attention has been given to CO2 emission levels too.It is widely recognized that one single technology will not completely solve the problem of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. Rather, the different technologies already available will have to be integrated, and new technologies developed, to obtain substantial CO2 abatement.

Abbreviations and glossary -- Introduction -- The structure of the automotive industry -- Markets and the demand for cars -- manufacturers to responsible mobility providers -- Sector shift, inter-sector dynamics and futures studies -- Powertrain and fuel -- Fuel cells and the hydrogen economy -- High volume car production: Budd and Ford -- Alternatives to high volume car production -- Sustainability -- Sustainable mobility -- Practical steps towards sustainability -- Automobility 2050, the vision -- The distributed economy -- The shape of the future -- The roadmap -- Micro factory retailing -- Conclusions and implications -- index.

This book presents an analysis on the potential effects of globalization on the automotive industry and the environment. Energy challenges, market economy growth, and population dynamics are considered. The authors also present future scenarios for transportation technologies to meet the ever growing global demand for transportation of goods and services while minimizing energy and environmental impacts and maximizing cost, value and widespread acceptance.