Vehicles
using conventional fuelshas been predominantly used all over the
globe. Apart from being expensive, these fuels are major cause of
environmental hazards. Some of the major countries such as US and
Italy are now focusing on the other form of fuels. The primary reason
behind this shift is to reduce the import dependency on foreign
countries, which is burdening the economy. The recent price
fluctuations in fuels have affected the major world economies. Hence
to avoid any adverse effect the countries are focusing on reducing
the usage of conventional fuel especially crude oil. These factors
have accelerated the growth in alternative fuel’s market.
The
alternative fuel is fast replacing the conventional fuels in
transportation, chemical, agricultural and industrial sector. The
transportation section consist of many companies offering vehicle
altered to suit alternative fuels. The alternative
fuel vehicle can be divided on the basis of fuel used such as
biodiesel, biomass, propane, electricity, hydrogen, non-fossil
methane, non-fossil natural gas, and ethane among others. On the end
user basis this market can be segmented as government vehicles,
private fleets, industrial transportation and domestic user’s
vehicle. The government vehicles and the private fleets have the
largest share in the alternative fuel vehicle’s market.
Alternative
fuel vehicles are majorly dependent on the fuel used for their
performance and distinct advantages. Propane is widely used
alternative fuel that has been an effective vehicle fuel for decades.
The electricity based vehicle provides an attractive prospect by
offering easilychargeable and noiseless urban transportation. It
comes in three types as all-electric, hybrid electric, and plug-in
hybrid electric vehicles. Biodiesel is a domestically produced
renewable fuel. Its physical properties are similar to petroleum
diesel.
However
they provide a cleaner alternative through less emissions. Ethanol
made from corn and other plant materials is used with gasoline for
vehicles. Hydrogen is not a very widely known alternative, but can be
one of the least emission causing fuels. The alternative fuel
vehicle’s market has slow growth, but is projected to pick up pace
in the coming years as the natural gas and other alternative fuels
reserves are being produced in abundant. The availability of fuel
locally and the corresponding efficiency of engines provides a major
advantage for the consumer. However the high cost of fuel, less
availability of charging station and lack of awareness act as the
major hindrance in the growth of alternative fuel vehicles.
North
American region is the most attractive market for alternative fuel
vehicle. The various regulation by US government to control the
emissions and import of fuels has proved advantageous for the
alternative fuels. The government of many countries such as US, China
and Italy are providing the alternative fuel vehicles buyers various
incentives to boost the sale. Asian manufacturers such as Toyota and
Hyundai are among the pioneer companies in this market. Among the
European countries, Italy has the major share in the sale of
alternative fuel vehicles. The government and privately fleet
vehicles are being converted to switch to alternative fuel at
accelerated rate.
Most
of the vehicle manufacturers are offering alternative fuel based
vehicles today. Some of the major players in this market are Ford
Motor Company, Jaguar Land Rover Limited, Toyota Motor
Corporation,Hyundai Motor Company, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Honda
Motor Co., Ltd., Shell International B.V., BYD Company Limited,
Daimler AG, Honda Motor Co., Ltd., and Mitsubishi Motors, among
others.
No comments:
Post a Comment