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The inherent drastic reduction of CO2, additionally to the limitation of pollutant emission, but at high level of propulsion power and torque as conditions of customer acceptance, imposes the introduction of new concepts of propulsion generation and management. A drastic reduction of CO2 - as cumulated quantity in the atmosphere - is possible by both reduction of specific energy consumption well-to-wheel for propulsion as well as by the utilization of regenerative fuels, ensuring a significant recycling of CO2 emissions from propulsion systems by photosynthesis. Alternative scenarios to the classical automobile propulsion by piston engine show remarkable potentials in terms of power characteristic, energy consumption or pollutant emissions. On the other hand, the development of internal combustion engines is moving from sophisticated mechanics to modular and adaptable process management.

The worldwide development of mobility - on air, earth or water - is generally characterized by a trade-off between high power and high torque against low specific energy consumption and low pollutant emission. The achieved diversity of propulsion systems and energy sources for mobility allows to develop advantageous combination scenarios between the utilized energy forms, energy conversion modules, energy storage units on board and propulsion machines. The paper presents the available energy sources and the derivable regenerative fuels, the global CO2 balance for representative propulsion configurations and the specific aspects of the energy storage on board. The most advanced concepts of propulsion - from fuel cells to the hybrid systems are presented in an overview, in relationship with their specific advantages and disadvantages.