Plenary Lecture

Issues and Opportunities in Sustainable Fuel and Vehicle Technologies

Professor M. Ehsani,
Ph.D., P.E., F. IEEE, F. SAE
Robert M. Kennedy Professor and Director,
Advanced Vehicle Systems Research Program
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-3128
USA

Email: ehsani@ece.tamu.edu
Web Site: http://www.ece.tamu.edu/People/bios/Ehsani.html
 

Abstract: The ever expanding use of personal vehicles in the world is associated with the following major problems.

• Fuel Consumption: Most vehicles require liquid fuel, typically derived from petroleum, which is a finite resource. Worldwide petroleum production is expected to decline starting in 2004 (Deffeyes, Hubbert’s Peak). The engines in current vehicles are only about 15–20% efficient.

• Pollution: In cities, the tailpipe emissions of vehicles degrade air quality. Also, the combustion of fossil fuels is implicated in global warming. In the United States, 20% of carbon dioxide emissions come from automobiles and 10% from trucks (http://www.ecobridge.org/content/g_cse.htm).

These problems with vehicles have long been known. There has been substantial progress in reducing tailpipe emissions using advanced catalytic converters; however, air quality is still unacceptable in many cities, primarily due to vehicle emissions.

Unless we take a revolutionary approach, the problems with vehicles will only get worse. By 2050, the number of vehicles is expected to increase by 5 times. Currently, the world has 9 people per vehicle, but by 2050 it is expected to have 2.6 people per vehicle.

In this key note presentation, new technology trends of the present and near future will be presented, leading to the need for a viable automobile and fuel technologies that are sustainable. I will propose an integrated approach to the automobile that focuses both on fuel production and vehicle power train technologies. The result is a new automobile and energy industry with the following properties: sustainable fuel supply into the indefinite future, higher efficiency, better performance, and no net carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere.

I will also review some of the technical, commercial, and social problems and issues that are on the forefront at the present. The presentation will conclude with comments about the technical realities versus the public knowledge of these issues.



Brief Biography of the Speaker:
M. Ehsani has been a researcher, consultant, and educator in energy systems, power electronics, and automotive systems over the past 33 years. He is the author of over 300 publications, 12 books, 23 patents, and numerous published reports and articles on the above topics. He has also served as a consultant to over 60 companies and many government agencies around the world.
He has been recognized on numerous occasions internationally for his technical contributions and has won many IEEE, SAE, government, and industrial awards and honors, such as IEEE Vehicular Society 2001 Avant Garde Award for “Contributions to the theory and design of hybrid electric vehicles.”
He is Robert M. Kennedy endowed chair professor of electrical engineering at Texas A&M University, in College Station, Texas, and has also been named the Halliburton Professor, Dresser Industries Professor, BP Amoco Faculty, and Ruth & William Neely/ Dow Chemical Faculty Fellow in the same university.
In 2003, he was selected for the IEEE Field Award for Undergraduate Teaching “For outstanding contributions to advanced curriculum development and teaching of power electronics and drives.”
He is a Fellow if IEEE (1994) and a Fellow of SAE (2005) and has served in many leadership positions in both of these professional societies. Presently he serves on the AdCom of IEEE Power Electronics Society, and Board of Governors of IEEE Vehicular Technology Society. We was the founding chairman of the IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference Steering Committee.
Ehsani is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas.