Petrol powers 96% of transportation - and that’s unsustainable, according to Holden’s manager env ironmental activities and strategy, Peter Vawdrey.

Especially, Vawdrey notes, when annual world car sales are set to rise from 71 to 98 million over the next few years, as people in India and China pursue the personal freedom, accessibility and comfort of automobiles.

“With that comes challenges of energy, sustainability, safety, environment and congestion - that is a huge number of cars taking up a lot of space,” he told a LPG conference in Surfers Paradise.

GM’s energy strategy is to displace petroleum through energy efficiency and diversity. LPG is part of that, and features in some of Holden’s new Ecoline vehicles.

“The present dual fuel LPG Commodore was developed with a strong focus n reduced running costs, with fuel efficiency and CO2 as a second priority,” he says.

“Going forward, we are seriously looking at LPG and doing some interesting work - a fully integrated design with no compromises, to really get the “green” benefits of LPG. We haven’t realised the “green” potential of LPG yet.”

Vawdrey said Holden wants to change the LPG brand, from what was a ‘fuel for taxis’ to a green alternative that competes strongly with diesels, hybrids, ethanol and anything else out there.

No one fuel is the right answer – for city cars electrics make sense, where three-quarters of drivers do less than 64 km per day. For big trucks with heavy loads, diesel makes more sense, but heavy road transport in Australia is now moving to liquified natural gas (LNG).

“Unique to Australia is it’s abundance of gaseous fuels and Holden is looking to government for its policy to develop on these. Countries and governments can miss out if they pick the wrong fuel.”

So a range of fuels to compete with LPG Autogas will be developed in the near future, according to Vawdrey.
“Watch out, there are alternatives coming,” he says.

Globally GM is supporting development and experiments with second generation cellulosic ethanol, and is looking at its potential here. Besides E85 biofuels, it is looking at diesel, hydrogen and electricity. Hydrogen has long term potential and already has a highly developed industry.

“The future is electrically driven, powered and connected. Electricity is a carrier for energy that can be generated in different ways, including solar, and wind. Expect the electrification of the car to happen in Australia,” he says.

“It’s an exciting time to be in the car industry, even though we’re in the middle of a global financial crisis. Energy and environmental issues are being looked at like never before. Exciting projects are being dusted off.

“It’s about rethinking the automobile.  And it’s happening right across the world.”

Source: Autofile