「２００１年のエネルギー」特集 ＶＩＩＩ 運輸（燃料の展望） Ｉ 自動車

Abstract

Future energy problems for automobiles have been discussed with regard to two aspects.Alternative energy sources other than liquid fossil fuels generally have a poor energy density, which results in rather shorter range in vehicles as can be seen in EVs. Social infrastructures, such as many charging stations, have to be settled for backing up the minor performance of the vehicle before the cars are widely accepted and used as an alternative for the conventional vehicles.Recently, an environmental change on the earth due to increment of CO2 has aroused many discussions. It is presumable that some restrictions on consuming the fossil fuels may be carried out in the next century. We might be in a transient period to a new fuel system age which is not dependent on the fossil fuels in the earth.