8/10/2012
Internal Combustion Engine To Remain Dominant For Many Years, Study Says
According to a study by a panel advising the Energy Department, the internal-combustion engine will likely remain the dominant power source for vehicles until at least 2050.
The report said that compressed natural gas vehicles instead of battery-powered vehicles will emerge as the biggest competitor to the combustion engine if natural-gas prices remain low. Hydraulic fracturing in shale rock formations has boosted supplies and pushed prices for the fuel to their lowest level in a decade.
The National Petroleum Council said, although from a somewhat biased view, that high costs and technology hurdles will impede any substitute technologies such as batteries and hydrogen fuel cells.
The NPC, which includes representatives from industry, government and universities, said U.S. policies should be "technology neutral" and depend on "market dynamics" to pick winners and losers.
Source: Automotive News