The Drive for Energy Diversity and Sustainability: The Impact on Transportation Fuels and Propulsion System Portfolios

摘要

Surging global energy demand is increasingly placing energy usage for transportation in the spotlight. Alternative energy resources and on-vehicle carriers hold promise to relieve the tight supply-demand balance but raise questions of sustainability as well as proliferation of choices for appropriate in-vehicle propulsion technologies to utilize these alternative energy carriers. Growing concerns regarding climate change are a catalyst for discussion concerning the carbon content of transportation-related energy usage. The confluence of these driving forces of energy diversity and sustainability represent both a challenge and an opportunity for the automotive and energy industries to, for the first time, reinvent the automobile while providing various energy alternatives and solutions to resolve the environmental debate. The strategy forward should comprehend the full energy flow consisting of primary energy resources, conversion to suitable energy carriers, and propulsion technology utilizing these carriers. We therefore present GM's energy blending strategy and associated advanced technology strategy, which comprehends the co-existence of liquid fuels, electricity and hydrogen in the future, with the continued optimization of conventional propulsion systems, together with the electrification of the vehicle, at its core. Addition of alternate resources of liquid fuels will prolong liquid fuel usage due to its inherent energy density, while electrification of the vehicle through hybridisation and improved battery technology will allow seamless blending of electricity from the grid. Generation of transportation energy in the future will increasingly be derived from diverse resources that are converted to either electricity or hydrogen as carriers, which offer the greatest diversity and lowest well-to-wheel environmental impact. As part of the solution, GM commits to producing vehicles and operating its manufacturing facilities with energy 28. Internationales Wiener Motorensymposium 2007 efficient technologies that enable increased diversity of energy resources while assuring customers affordable, safe and responsible products.