Routes for Future Automotive Fuels – Based on an Energy Perspective

Authors

Dr. W. Warnecke, F. Balthasar M.Eng.,
Dr. J. Adolf, Shell Hamburg; J. Cadu,
Shell France; R. Hunter, Shell London;
Prof. G. J. Kramer, Dr. C. Laurens,
Shell Netherlands

Year

2015

Print Info

Fortschritt-Berichte VDI, Reihe 12, Nr. 783

Summary

CO₂ emissions continue to be one of the key drivers for how mobility is regulated in key markets across the globe. The overwhelming proportion of markets for light and heavy duty vehicles now have CO₂ targets in place and those are expected to get more stringent into the next decade. However, the opportunities for the mobility sector to address the CO₂ challenge on a WtW basis at an acceptable cost to society differ significantly over different time horizons. Continued focus on our existing mobility system and modifying it is a natural next step, and will be a large part of the solution especially in the 0-15 year horizon. Car makers have already been very active and successful in driving affordable technology changes to reduce tailpipe CO₂ emissions by building on existing technologies. However, most of these solutions will be exploited in the next decade. Hence the pace of improvements of vehicle efficiency over the past decade cannot be used as a proxy for the future if mobility is to remain affordable and accessible to a broad customer base. Shell believes that between now and 2030 hydrocarbon based fuels could enable new credible, cost effective technologies to drive further improvement of the WtW CO₂ footprint of light duty mobility. Examples of such options include advanced biofuels, high octane gasoline or compressed natural gas. However, barriers remain for all of these solutions and to realize their potential we recognize that among other factors changes have to be made to fuel specifications and composition and infrastructure. Progress on these topics requires collaboration across industry and policy makers.