ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with prospects for continued sufficient supply of oil to meet anticipated transport activity and for replacing oil as the main transport fuel. It discusses electric vehicles, as well as vehicles that use oil products and other fuels. The chapter considers how enough electricity might be produced to replace oil as the main transport fuel. Use of oil for transport has been rising at a higher rate than use of oil for other purposes. The potential growth in oil use for transport can be seen in one or both of two ways. It can be seen as driven mostly by expansion of motorized transport in poorer countries or as continued, more intensive appropriation of resources by people in richer countries. Several alternatives to the usual petroleum-based transport fuels also involve use of fossil fuels. Diesel fuel is denser, less volatile and contains more usable energy per unit volume than gasoline.
