China looks towards an alternatively fueled future
Considering the rate at which China is industrializing, the thought of just how much oil they'll consume in future years is staggeringly high. With that in mind, Feng Fei, director of the industrial economics research department with the Development Research Center of China's State Council, announced that by 2025, 50 percent of China's cars will run on fuels other than gasoline. At this point, the alternatives appear to include diesel, biofuels and hydrogen. Despite being in a developing country with abundant coal reserves, Feng said that diesel refined from coal was not a viable option because of the low energy efficiency and high CO2 emissions during the production process.
Whether or not specific policies will be put in place is not clear. If not, it'll be difficult to get excited about mere predictions. Remember, we just heard of the study that shows three-quarters of the automakers in Europe are on track to come up short on their promised, voluntary agreement to reduce emissions of CO2 to 140 grams/kilometer by 2008/2009. It takes more than promises to have an impact.
[Source: Xinhua / People's Daily via Auto Industry]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MikeW 3:01PM (10/30/2006)
Soylent green?
I bet China goes butanol.
Reply