Road vehicles will continue to be predominantly powered by fossil fuels for at least the next 30 years, an oil industry report has concluded.

The study by the UK Petroleum Industry Association, entitled 'Future Road Fuels', examines the options for low carbon road fuels and technology in the 21st century.

It explains that alternatives to oil are either impractical or prohibitively expensive at the moment, meaning that less environmentally damaging fuels will play only a minor role in achieving the Government's 2050 CO₂ targets.

Esso UK's senior economist, John Constable, speaking at the launch of the report, stated: "Oil, driven by the growth in demand for transportation fuels, will remain the major component of the world's energy mix."

The study argues that many alternative fuel technologies will only be widely available in the long-term and that the best way to reduce greenhouse gases from road transport in the short term is to expand the use of hybrid vehicles containing both an electric motor and a petrol or diesel engine.

The continued reliance on oil means that demand for platinum, palladium and rhodium by the auto industry will remain strong for use in autocatalysts to control harmful emissions.

Nick Owen, senior manager of technology at the automotive engineering consultants Ricardo, stated: "Advanced developments of what is considered conventional automotive technology can still offer significant reductions in real-world energy use and greenhouse gas emission. Examples are advanced, clean diesel engines, some new efficient petrol engine concepts, and various forms of Hybrid vehicle.

"In the medium term, these technologies are a good choice for the consumer, industry and the environment because they will evolve out of today's vehicles, which reduces risk."

The report adds that although oil crude supplies are finite, worldwide reserves of conventional crude oil and non-conventional sources, such as tar sands, are sufficient to meet transport energy needs for at least the next fifty years.