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Project Participants: |
BMW, Daimler-Benz, MAN, VW
Aral, RWE, Shell
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Project Description and Objectives: |
98-05-13: On Monday, the initiative ""Energy Strategy for Transportation"" has been presented to the public in a joint press conference of the German federal Ministry of Transportation and the involved industry in Bonn. The automotive companies BMW, Daimler-Benz, MAN and VW as well as the mineral oil and utility companies Aral, RWE and Shell have grouped together in this initiative. The federal government has promised support and close collaboration.
The objectives of the activity are:
Securing and extending German industrial technological leadership in the area of alternative propulsion and energy technology,
definition and eventually creation of the necessary preconditions for the introduction of alternative propulsion systems,
enabling a careful use of finite ressources and the prevention of possible singular dependencies.
In a joint effort, possible alternatives shall be economically, technologically and ecologically assessed leading to the identification of one or at most two sustainable energy carriers. In a second step, a strategy for the market introduction of this technology shall be taken already until autumn 1999.
Various industry representatives argued that the rather poor success in introducing alternative fuels such as natural gas was due to the uncoordinated efforts of industry and politics and underlined the importance of the joint activity ""Energy Strategy for Transportation"".
Some excerpts of the statements of the industry representatives underline the points of view of the respective companies:
""For the future of mobility, big challenges show up which cannot be solved by simply making the present system more efficient; instead, new and forward-looking solutions are necessary."" Marcus Breitschwerdt, head of transport, environmental and economic strategy at Daimler-Benz. The Daimler-Benz press release carries on: In view of the finiteness of fossil fuels, alternatives have to be found, that have the potential to meet the future energy requirements and that prevent a growing dependency on the OPEC countries. ... From Daimler-Benz' point of view, alternative fuels should be able to power internal combustion engines as well as new energy transformers such as fuel cells.
""Already in 1994, BMW has presented a possible strategy for the use of alternative fuels: from natural gas to hydrogen. [...] We know for sure that in future we will drive one or two of the following alternative propulsion concepts:
internal combustion engine fueled by natural gas or hydrogen,
electric propulsion with batteries or fuel cells,
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