They have been taking note for a long time, but always nice to read about it. This was out of todays GoAuto newsletter (great weekly newsletter for those who are interested in the automotive industry).
"Australia’s abundant natural resources are the key to our automotive future"
GENERAL Motors’ global research and development and planning vice-president Larry Burns has outlined his vision for the Australian automotive landscape, in which our dependence on imported oil would end.
Mr Burns, who met with federal industry minister Kim Carr and Victorian premier John Brumby this week to discuss future technologies for Holden, said Australia was in a prime position to become a self-sufficient energy producer and cut its emissions at the same time.
He said Australia’s viable future automotive energy sources could include LPG, CNG, biomass-generated ethanol, hydrogen, coal (which can be converted into liquid fuel) and electricity sourced from clean-coal processes or renewable sources.
Mr Burns said Australia could tap into its plentiful supply of natural resources to move away from imported oil and therefore control its own destiny. “I am quite envious of Australia because you are one of the nations that truly can have an energy independence strategy and you can fi nd a way to reduce the automobile’s dependence on petroleum. “When I did my background research for my trip to Australia I was fascinated to see how much coal you have – there certainly are pathways where coal can find its way to automobiles, whether it is through electrically driven vehicles or creating hydrogen or coal to liquid,” he said. “I was intrigued to see how much sunshine you have – solar continues to look promising longer term – I was intrigued as to how much natural gas you have and the potential for LPG and CNG vehicles, and I am intrigued by the biomass that would exist, both in municipal waste and plants that we don’t need (which could be used to produce ethanol).”
In the short-term, Mr Burns said Holden, along with GM, was looking at raft of technologies to improve the efficiency of the Commodore’s V6 engine including direct injection, turbocharging and the cylinder de-activation feature soon to be introduced on V8 models. But he warned that the rising demand for oil and supply issues would also require Holden to look at other energy sources. “Efficiency alone is not enough to solve this problem,” he said. Mr Burns did not single out one alternative energy source as the silver bullet, instead suggesting that a range of alternatives covering all customer needs was required.
If you want to read the whole article, here is a link...Full Article.
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