2 research outputs found
Car Industry developments – oil industry challenges
Automotive industry of Europe is one of the greatest economical powers, the „engine
of Europe”. It employs directly 2.2 million people and 10 million in related industries and
services. Combined turnover of automotive manufacturers reaches 700 billion EUR (retail
another 520 billion EUR). The industry is the largest R&D investor in EU. On the other hand
the transport sector carries a huge safety and environmental risk. Thanks to this fact the
automotive industry is one of the most regulated sectors in the EU. As a result of these
regulations: one average car built in 1970s produced as many pollutant elements as one
hundred cars manufactured today.
These achievements are based on struggles of both the auto and oil industry as
parallel with technology development in car industry fuel quality developments achieved by
the oil industry drove to a much “cleaner” fuel quality (unleaded sulphur free petrol, reduction
of aromatics, benzene; sulphur free diesel, reduction of density, poly-aromatics, etc.).
In the end of the 1990s, and especially for the last few years new challenges came
into the focus of the auto and oil industry of the EU and the world. Concerns about high
energy prices and price volatility, security of worldwide oil supply and climate change
became a main policy agenda of the EU and the world. This new policy is reflected in new
regulatory initiatives requiring cars using less energy more efficiently, emitting less carbondioxide
and using growing proportion of renewable fuels. The European Commission
declared the idea of “Cars for Fuels” instead of “Fuels for Cars”.
This article discusses in detail the regulations and challenges that rose towards oil
and car industry during the recent years. It describes the possible solutions in order to fulfil
the requirements of the EU. After that a wide picture is presented without going into much
detail on developments of the automotive industry. Developments are divided between
vehicle level, engine level and fuel level technologies, also paying attention to technologies
that are less known or rather futuristic