The Future Of Motor Fuels
By: Sander Cohan
SUMMARY: For nearly a century, the dominance of gasoline and diesel fuel has remained relatively unchallenged. As motor transportation has spread and evolved with economic development, these two products of the petroleum refining industry have driven global demand for oil.
In the study, "Scatter Shot Reform: Fuel Engine Pathways for Automotive Transportation, 2009-2025," Energy Security Analysis Inc. (ESAI) explores how global fuel markets will develop in the coming decades, identifying new technologies and markets that will rise to prominence.
Changes in gasoline and diesel specifications, along with the emergence of alternative fuels and new automotive technologies, signal the beginnings of a shift in motor fuels markets. The competing and sometimes conflicting reform will result in a vastly different motor fuels landscape than the comparatively simple market seen today.
This transformational process will result in the expansion of the potential number of fuel pathways from two- gasoline and diesel- to more than 12, covering the gamut of technologies and environmental strategies. Biofuels will remain prominent, but natural gas, coal and electric resources will all play a major role.