Future fuel: Power to the people

Cars used as storage devices for the national grid; VWs running on sugar cane and wind energy to fuel our roads - last week's EECA Biofuels and Electric Cars conference had it all.

But most admitted the focus is moving from biofuels; that replacing petroleum will take time; and that a broad-brush approach is required, as outlined by GM Holden.

Its director of Energy and Environment, Richard Marshall, says GM's energy strategy is to eventually displace reliance on petroleum through more efficient technology and energy diversity.

That means super-effective internal combustion engines; better use of natural gas, which Australia and the United States have in abundance; and yes, better biofuels.

Those more efficient engines will pair with other developments that lead to a hydrogen fuel future. Hybrids mated to the internal combustion engine are already making way for plug-in hybrids.

Those cars need better charging facilities and lighter batteries with greater capacity; and that development will move across to hydrogen fuel cell cars.

Marshall sees the challenge not as developing these technologies, but in making them affordable to the ordinary consumer. And making them acceptable.

The cellphone took 10 or 15 years to reach widespread use; steam took a century or more to replace sail.

Take-up of alternative fuels is expected to be accelerated by government assistance.

"If it's totally left to the free market it can take twice as long as when there are significant incentives," Marshall says.

He says public acceptance of hydrogen could take 50 years, and it's this which could be the new fuel's Achilles heel.

Marshall adds: "Unless there's a concerted and unified media and education campaign, customers are resistant."

He cites the drop in US hybrid sales after subsidies dried up and fuel prices fell - no doubt temporarily. "A significant number of customers have the memories of goldfish."

Meantime, it'll take cars on roads to create economies of scale, with the likes of GM's soon-to-arrive Volt, initially pricey.

Marshall says GM will look to government fleets and early adopters to get Volt on the road. It has one significant advantage over most electric cars. Consumers may rarely drive more than 60km a day, but still worry about range and see the likes of the 160km a day of Mitsubishi's iMiEV as a limiting factor. But Volt has a backup petrol engine to charge the battery, delivering similar range to a conventional car if needed.

Meanwhile, GM is working on better batteries.

"Volt's battery is 150kg and 1.8 to 1.9m long," Marshall says. "That's like having a second row forward lying in your car, delivering the same energy as four litres of petrol."

Could GM's problems cause it to stop development and wait for others to come up with future solutions? Marshall says it can't afford to.

He's fired up about the alternatives, from carpooling, to better petrol engines, to GM electric and hydrogen cars.

"There's never been a better time to be an engineer or a policy planner," he says, and adds that there's no problem getting Holden engineers engaged in energy and environment projects. Forget V8s, the problem is to hold them back - "and the number of cylinders is irrelevant".