Technical Paper
Exploitation of Energy Resources and Future Automotive Fuels
2007-01-23
2007-01-0034
The future exploitation of global energy resources is currently being hotly debated by politicians and by sections of the scientific community but there is little guidance available in the engineering literature as to the full gamut of options or their viability with respect to fuelling the world's vehicles. In the automotive industry extensive research is being undertaken on the use of alternative fuels in internal combustion engines and on the development of alternative powerplants but often the long-term strategy and sustainability of the energy sources to produce these fuels is not clearly enunciated. The requirement to reduce CO2 emissions in the face of accelerating global warming scenarios and the depletion of fossil-fuel resources has led to the widespread assumption that some form of ‘hydrogen economy’ will prevail; this view is seldom justified or challenged.