Spoilt for choice

The auto industry's options list includes biofuels, hydrogen, hybrids, fuel cells, and batteries-but will it be all, or nothing at all?

As car makers embark on a new era of massive international expansion of their markets, they must also confront the unpalatable fact that they may be facing a future of uncertain technological direction.

The reality of the potential effects of serious climate change, the pressure-legislative and sociological-for action to mitigate those effects, and the need to move away from fossil fuels is becoming ever more urgent. The auto industry's role in that action is clear; how it achieves it is not.