The global supplies of petroleum are on the decline and the dwindling resource has become increasingly difficult to access. Improved technology is increasingly been required to access petroleum that is in hard to reach geographical environments and has chemical composition that is not entirely compatible with existing processing techniques. Alternative energy involves energy from renewable and non-depleting sources such as wind and solar, offer many opportunities for research and development and are been widely developed globally. These sources of energy are expected to reduce the threat of a changing climate, air pollution and oil dependence caused by the automobile industry. There are many economic, environmental and societal benefits of employing various alternative energy sources or options in the passenger automobile industry for motive power. Transitioning from a monoculture of hydrocarbon-based transportation will be just as signify- cant as investments in research and development needed to develop a portfolio of cost-competitive and safe alternative powertrain technologies that can effectively retire the fossil fueled internal combustion engine, without much of any economic stress. In this work, we couple energy and environmental issues to obtain a realistic indication of the future of alternative powertrain technologies for the future of the passenger automobile industry.
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