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Originally Posted by seifrob
The era of dominance of one system is over, thats all. All the "alternative fuels" will probably gain more percentage, but I assume none will be as dominant as internal combustion engines were as alternative forms will be more cost-effective in some scenarios.
We will see more diversity. More electric cars, more hydrogen cars, more CNG cars, hopefully even some compressed air cars too.
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I also believe integrated solutions will be more relevant than some one-size-fits-nobody.. err.. one-size-fits-all approach. And the internal-combustion engine is likely to remain relevant long-term, even if it becomes more used as a backup generator instead of the prime motive power. When it comes to CNG, since nearly every organic matter residue can be turned into a feedstock for biomethane, it may become more relevant soon and eventually take over the market share of ethanol.
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Probably some unification too. I can imagine some "powerpacks" for trucks. Long haul in arctic areas? take this petrol. Long haul in mild climate? take this diesel. Need to do california city delivery? Than we offer you this hydrogene powerpack. Do you have your own CNG station? Take this turbine.
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Not so sure about such "unification", since most options didn't effectively replace Diesel and it remains relevant for heavy hauling on a worldwide basis. I'd also not hold my breath for hydrogen anyway, even in California it might make more sense to use CNG as long as EPA and CARB become less stringent when it comes to certification of aftermarket conversions.
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the only problem I see is political interference skewing the natural selection.
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Political interference is a PITA, since it doesn't often involve long-term planning. They actually need to keep some problems to sell a false solution, just like the goat-in-the-room metaphor.