Abstract
Carbon dioxide CO 2 is one of the main pollutants generated when burning fossile fuels. Determining the actual contribution of CO 2 to the worldwide greenhouse effect is one of the fundamental tasks of automotive industry. The present paper shows the limits to the further reduction of CO 2 emissions generated by internal-combustion piston engines. The characteristics of an engine strongly depend on the composition of the fuel on which it is operated. The better the fuel quality the easier it will be to make engines optimally comply with the requirements of modern society. Fire and combustion - the driving powers of the evolution of mankind According to French author Antoine de Rivarol (1753 - 1801) "man is the only living being on earth able of making fire. That is what earned him the domination of the earth." As a matter of fact, no other creature living on this planet of ours has ever developed the faculty of controlling fire or, in other words, mastering the combustion process. If pushed to extreme limits, the ongoing discussions on how to reduce or eliminate CO 2 emissions must finally lead to the prohibition of combustion as such. This, however, would severely shake the foundations of human evolution. Therefore, instead of forbidding combustion altogether, we should first try
1. to get a better understanding and control of the combustion process - an interesting task for which there are many different approaches;
2. to determine the actual environmental impact of the combustion products in general and of CO 2 in particular. Within the scope of current scientific findings there is sufficient justification for any of the following statements:
"CO 2 will cause climatic disaster [1]" or "CO 2 is the most vital element of life on earth."
If a tenfold increase of the CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere was possible the efficiency of solar energy utilisation could be four to five times as high as it is now" [2]. The internal combustion piston engine and its importance In the last century, intensive scientific research in the combustion domain brought forth one of the most important inventions ever made by man in modern times: the internal combustion piston engine. Various variants of the basic concept - from spark-ignition to diesel engines - have found wide-spread application in many fields of human activity. In more than 100 years, the internal combustion reciprocating piston engine has fundamentally changed life on earth. It has helped many dreams of humanity come true - by freeing man from heavy often drudging work and by providing him with independence and the freedom to do whatever he wants to do, from travelling to flying, swimming and diving. And it has given us individual mobility - one of the greatest benefits of our time. More than 500 million passenger cars registered worldwide are the most obvious proof that man has readily embraced both the automobile and the internal combustion engine.