1. Research Methodology – Term Paper
Kevin Kovadia [AM0712] Adit Shah [AM2012]
Scope of Renewable Energy in Automobile Sector
Introduction
Any energy and environmental policy effort must come to grips with transportation. Roughly
97% of all energy consumed by our cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, trucks, and airplanes is still
petroleum-based.
The automobile industry is comprised of companies that design, manufacture, market, sell and
service motor vehicles. It is a complex, highly fragmented supply chain that includes procuring
raw materials such as steel, aluminum, plastics and glass, forming and manufacturing parts and
assembling the parts into an end vehicle.
The industry is highly dependent on government regulations and fuel price fluctuations that
influence vehicle design and consumer preferences. Because the automobile industry is also a
major consumer of electricity and fossil fuels, the industry has the opportunity to transform its
operations, achieve cost savings and hedge against future volatility in energy prices through
more efficient processes, increased use of renewable energy, and more self-generation of
electricity.
Due to the diversity of the automobile industry and the many finished parts of a vehicle,
operational energy use must be assessed across the entire supply chain; from raw materials, to
parts production, to manufacturing assembly, in order to optimize efficiency and renewable
energy use.
The global automotive industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation due to increasing
consumer preferences toward vehicles with a lower carbon footprint.

2. Literature review
Besides the tens of millions of passenger vehicles that are already in operation today, tens of
millions more automobiles and light trucks will be manufactured in the near future to satisfy
increasing demand among the growing middles classes of China, Brazil, India and Malaysia as
well as other burgeoning economies around the world.[1]
We will need to replace gasoline with a zero-carbon fuel. All Alternative fuel vehicles pathway
require technology advances and strong government action to succeed. Hydrogen is the most
challenging of all alternative fuels, particularly because of the enormous effort needed to
change our existing gasoline infrastructure. [2]
Achieving the transition to a low carbon sustainable economy will require a massive
mobilization of skills and training – both to equip new workers and to enable appropriate
changes in practices by the three million workers already employed in these key sectors
influencing our environmental footprint. Current approaches do not appear sufficient for
meeting these challenges. [3]
Few now doubt that we are rapidly approaching two conflicting mega-challenges – Peak Oil,
and major climate change. Long-term option is dramatically increased use of renewable
especially wind, liquid biofuels, and solar and advanced nuclear concepts. [4]
The consumption of energy is increasing all over the world. At the same time, the available
resources are declining. There will eventually be a shortage of some of the types of energy we
use. At the same time, these energy sources are making a significant contribution to the
increase in global warming. Joint intervention and activity on the part of everyone involved is
needed to solve these problems. [5]

3. Objective
1. Need of RE (renewable energy)
Central to the world's mobility needs, the car industry has to innovate in order to survive, by
applying new energy solutions. Automobile industry is an energy consumer and a major source
of CO2 emissions. It has been calculated that as much as 27 per cent of all CO2 emissions in the
Europe comes from automobile industry.
There are three principal factors that drive the need for alternative fuels.
 The increase in global warming to which the burning of oil is a contributory factor.
 Our enormous dependence on fossil fuels. When it comes to the transport sector,
this dependence is extreme. Some 97% of all the energy that is used for transport
comes from crude oil.
 Crude oil is a finite resource and its availability is steadily declining.
2. History about usage of RE in automobile sector
Though the first electric vehicle was developed in 1834, electric vehicles are even today not a
mainstream commercial proposition in developed markets. Long distances, high speeds, low
fuel costs, and high carrying capacities combined with the clout of the conventional vehicle
lobby make electric cars uncompetitive in those markets.
The energy crises of the 1970s and '80s brought a short-lived interest in electric cars, though
those cars did not reach mass marketing as today's electric cars experience it. Since the mid-
2000s, the production of electric cars is experiencing a renaissance due to advances in battery
and power management technologies and concerns about increasingly volatile oil prices and
the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

4. 3. Future of RE
Electric car
An electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one electric motor or more, using electrical
energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric motors give electric cars
instant torque, creating strong and smooth acceleration.
Electric cars have several benefits compared to conventional internal combustion engine
automobiles, including a significant reduction of local air pollution, as they have no tailpipe, and
therefore do not emit harmful tailpipe pollutants from the onboard source of power at the
point of operation reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the onboard source of power,
depending on the fuel and technology used for electricity generation to charge the batteries
and less dependence on foreign oil, which for the United States and other developed or
emerging countries is cause for concern about vulnerability to oil price volatility and supply
disruption.
The advanced vehicles of the future will not just offer unmatched features, safety and
convenience; they will also be "clever" and environment friendly. The increasing fusion of
electronics and IT with automotive technologies will give rise to vehicles with advanced
intelligence and connectivity. Other developments in distribution models, financing options,
flexible ownership models, personalization of vehicles and greater choices across the
ecosystem will further alter the entire experience of interacting with the mobility ecosystem.
Reference
[1] Journal of Transportation Technologies, 2011, 1, 67-82 doi:10.4236/jtts.2011.14010 Published Online
October 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jtts)
[2] Romm, J. (2006). The car and fuel of the future. elsevier, Energy Policy 34 .

5. [3] CSIRO, Growing the Green Collar Economy: Skills and labour challenges in reducing our greenhouse
emissions and national environmental footprint, June 2008,
www.csiro.au/resources/GreenCollarReport.html
[4] Doty, F. D. (Feb. 2004. Updated Mar. 2006). Future Fuels. Columbia: Doty Scientific.
[5] Johansson, L. Future Fuels for commercial vehicles. Göteborg, Sweden: volvo.
[6] Sperling, Daniel and Deborah Gordon (2009). Two billion cars: driving toward sustainability. Oxford
University Press, New York. pp. 22–26.
[7] David B. Sandalow, ed. (2009). Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? (1st.Ed.).The
Brookings Institution. pp. 1–6.
[8] Michael Dopita FAA, Robert Williamson AO, 2009
[9] future of mobility. (n.d.). Retrieved december 20, 2012, from mahindrareva:
http://www.mahindrareva.com/Reva-FOMwhtisit.html
[10] "Should Pollution Factor Into Electric Car Rollout Plans?” Earth2tech.com.2010-03-17. Retrieved
2010-04-18.
[11] "Electro Automotive: FAQ on Electric Car Efficiency & Pollution". Electroauto.com. Retrieved 2010-
04-18.
[12] Raut, Anil K. Role of electric vehicles in reducing air pollution: a case of Katmandu, Nepal. The Clean
Air Initiative. Retrieved 2011-01-04.