[Peakoil] Transport fuel use could be halved by 2030, says IEA

[Jenny Goldie]

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/mixed-greens-transport-fuel-use-could-be-halved-by-2030-says-iea-37090
Transport fuel use could be halved by 2030, says IEA
By Sophie Vorrath on 20 September 2012 
The International Energy Agency has predicted that fuel consumption in new vehicles could be slashed by half in the next 20 years, provided governments introduce bold policies to support clean technologies - technologies that the IEA said were already cost-effective, in that fuel savings outweigh additional costs over vehicle life, but were not deployed widely enough. Scientific American reports that the Paris-based agency said on Wednesday that the transport sector, which consumes around one fifth of global primary energy, will account for nearly all the future growth in oil use.

"Strong policies are needed to ensure that the full potential of these technologies is achieved over the next 10 to 20 years," the IEA said in one of two reports on the fuel economy of road vehicles. "Current technologies for conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles can reduce fuel consumption by half over the next 20 years," the IEA said. Policies highlighted by the IEA as playing a key role in boosting fuel economy improvements include fuel economy standards, fiscal measures and education programs.

The agency said a reduction on transport energy consumption would have "significant" benefits for energy security, economic development, individual user fuel costs, and climate change - adding it would be key in achieving a maximum temperature rise of 2 degrees Celsius by 2050, even with a rapid rise in sales of EVs.