For instance, in Energy Information Administration s current projections, advanced technologies allow oil production to respond to an increase in world demand from 75 million barrels a day currently to 110 million barrels a day in 2020 without a large increase in price. Moreover, engine technologies not widely employed today, such as direct injection and continuously variable transmissions, can allow future vehicles with internal combustion engines to increase performance and reduce emissions at the same time. Concerns about petroleum dependence and the desire to maintain a variety of options for future fuels continue to drive the development of alternative fuels and advanced technologies. Moreover, even if governments adopt measures to limit the emissions of carbon dioxide, the prospects for technologies to cost-effectively sequester or recycle carbon and allow fossil fuels to be consumed at the present rate appear remote. If current trends continue, motorists will continue to increase miles driven each year and do so in vehicles with increased size and horsepower, greatly increasing the challenge for new technologies.
Gas is widely available in North America and is the least polluting of the fossil fuels.
EIA forecasts give CNG the largest share of the alternative transportation fuels market in the coming decades. Almost all of this consumption is for fleets. Given the challenge of building an extensive delivery infrastructure, of reducing higher vehicle costs, and the size of fuel tanks, and of increasing vehicle range, it may be difficult for gas to move beyond the fleet market. With most new electric generating plants using gas, its price is expected to rise more quickly than the price of gasoline. Its current price is about the price of gasoline excluding State and Federal taxes.