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 THE STAT 26Percentage of wireless customers who use their cell phones to take picturesMore Vitals
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OCTOBER 8, 2004
Toward Tomorrow's Fuels With oil prices climbing, carmakers are searching for alternatives. GM's Alan Taub discusses the Detroit giant's ambitious plans Oil is the lifeblood of the automobile. Small wonder the auto industry has played a pivotal role in shaping U.S. energy policy. Now, in an era of war and terror, with oil hitting a record $52 a barrel, the issue of finding alternative fuels is front and center again. Some researchers postulate that the age of oil is entering a decline as supplies slowly run out over the course of the 21st century. General Motors (GM ), the world's largest auto maker, is investing millions of dollars to develop a new generation of alternative-powered vehicles. BusinessWeek Online's Steve Rosenbush recently spoke with Alan Taub, director of research and development science at GM, about the company's view of alternative energy. Taub, who has worked at General Electric (GE ) and Ford (F ), holds a doctorate in applied physics from Harvard University. He directs a team of scientists at GM's lab in Warren, Mich. Here are edited excerpts of the conversation: Q: How will alternative-powered vehicles reshape the auto industry? A: There are two driving forces, as seen by GM. One is around emissions. The charter we have given ourselves is to take the vehicle out of the environmental equation, to get tailpipe emissions to the point where they're no longer an issue. Also, we're developing diversified forms of propulsion. Q: How quickly are these forces moving? A: Our target is to have a commercially viable hydrogen and fuel-cell propulsion option for the company by 2010. We're also pushing hybrid engines and improvements in the base engine. Q: Why not offer something for consumers now? A: The only way to impact the market in a big way is to sell vehicles at high volume. Selling thousands or tens of thousands of alternative vehicles may be good for image, but it doesn't change the equation. Customers won't tolerate any compromise in performance. We're [waiting] to develop a truly commercially viable technology. Q: Where is your research focused right now? A: We still think we can get 20% more efficiency out of the gas engine without any revolutionary changes, just by doing things like improving combustion. Today, diesel engines are approximately 20% more efficient than gas. So why doesn't everyone drive diesel? There are two reasons. One is cost. Diesel engines are more expensive to produce. The other is emissions. Diesel engines emit more NOCs [nitrous oxides] and soot. The goal is to develop a gas engine that's as efficient as diesel, but easier to control on the emissions side. Q: What's the status of alternative propulsion? A: The other trend is the continuing electrification of the vehicle. More and more, we're moving away from the mechanical and hydraulic systems. We introduced a fully electronic car, the EV1, in the '90s, and we learned a lot. There were several issues. One was the cost to the company. But the real problem was that we were betting on batteries becoming more efficient, with higher energy storage. What happened was that those technological improvements in the battery lagged the commercial introduction of the vehicle, which suffered from limited range. That ended up being a marketplace issue. So now we're focusing on building vehicles that are run by hydrogen and fuel cells, not batteries. We will not repeat the experience of the EV1. Q: What was the EV1's range? A: It went about 60 to 100 miles. Today, the range of a gas-powered vehicle is about 250 to 300 miles. Q: What are the environmental implications of hydrogen and fuel-cell cars? A: Hydrogen-powered vehicles emit only heat and water at the tailpipe. It would meet our target of producing vehicles where tailpipe emissions are no longer an issue. Q: How would these vehicles be charged? A: [These] vehicles could become part of the country's electric grid. They will actually have more electrical capacity than the line running into your home, because of peak power requirements. They would tap into the electric grid and create hydrogen at night, and people would use it for driving during the day. Q: But wouldn't those new cars just create more demand for oil-using electrical plants? A: You can't just look at the environmental equation by examining the car from the fuel tank to the tailpipe. You have to look at the equation from the oil well to the tail pipe. But hydrogen is an energy commodity. It can be produced from petroleum, from electricity, or from bio-fuels. Hydrogen plus electricity could run the economy of the future. 
BW MALL
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