How ICE Technology Helps Achieve a Lower Carbon Future

The United States transportation sector includes nearly 300 million internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles and American consumers are on pace to purchase another 14 million in 2022. Despite the rapid increase in electric vehicle sales, the market will continue to be dominated by ICE vehicles for decades to come. In the pursuit of reducing carbon emissions from the transportation sector, finding solutions for these vehicles must be a priority.

For this reason, The Fuels Institute commissioned this new report, which presents a high-level summary of research and development projects focused on improving ICE efficiency and emissions and reducing the carbon intensity of liquid fuels. Understanding the objectives and potential benefits of such initiatives is important to better evaluate the potential emission contributions of the transportation sector.

Although some have reported that work on ICE technology has ceased and that no additional improvements can be had, this study found thousands of current citations pertaining to research that could yield significant improvements in the performance and environmental footprint of these vehicles.

This summary is just a snapshot of what might be possible – there remain significant projects that could greatly benefit the path to decarbonizing transportation. Decisionmakers should seek viable solutions and support further progress in technology and fuel formulations in their effort to achieve a lower carbon future.

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