Is alternative fuel the future and an option? That?s what forecasts and estimates suggest. The Economist Intelligence Unit forecast says the global petroleum demand is projected to grow 2.3% over the next five years, with demand in India to grow 7.2%. And a KPMG estimate says fuel costs for an average Indian passenger car is $9.8 cents a mile for gasoline, whereas LPG costs $5.8 cents a mile and CNG $2.8 cents a mile. These two projections clearly indicate that using alternative fuels may soon be the order of the day. Such fuels are high on the list of priorities of car makers globally. Some substitutes of petrol are already in place in Europe, the US and in South America, and India is also gearing up for environment-friendly fuel options.
The country is currently experi-menting with a range of alternative fuels. In metros like Delhi and Mumbai, CNG is being widely used in buses, taxis and three-wheelers. US auto major General Motors is working on CNG and LPG variants of the Aveo and Italian car manufacturer Fiat is also planning to launch CNG cars by 2009.
Hyundai Motors will launch an LPG variant of the Santro by September-end. The Santro is available in CNG, diesel and petrol versions at present. The LPG variants of other models like the Getz and the Accent will also be rolled out by the third quarter of the year. Based on a survey of auto industry professionals, KPMG estimates that, in the 14 select cities with access to piped fuel gas, about 10% of passenger cars (680,000 vehicles) will be running on CNG by 2015. Commuter vehicles and light commercial vehicles are likely to be running on LPG and CNG without exception by 2015. As the final Bharat stage IV emission controls are intro-duced, about 2.17 million vehicles will be running on gas. Even though car makers are set to introduce non-petrol variants of their models, the demand for alternative fuel is directly proportional to the price and availability of different fuels and the enforce-ment of new emission controls. The distribution set-up is currently in a nascent stage. There are two cross-country pipelines, both in northeastern India, and one more is proposed.