Automobile and Energy.

The automobile industry is closely linked to energy problems in two very different fields: first of all, as a metal industry it consumes energy for the manufacture of its products. The energy used in this process represents 17 to 20% of the total consumption of a car during its entire life span. Moreover, the products manufactured by the automobile industry are petroleum consumers. The aim of this article is to summarize the progress accomplished in the rational use of energy in the above two fields, to specify what improvements are possible and to forecast over the short and medium ranges the likely improvements to reduce the amount of gasoline consumed by cars and to improve the quantity of transport per unit of energy used by acting on the parameters indicated above.