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For securing the safety of methanol fuels, properties of methanol fuels containing 10-20% of gasoline were studied. Controlled fleet tests were conducted on Otto-type vehicles using M85 fuel. As a result, the M85 fuel with vapor pressure adjustment has been confirmed to be sufficient as the fuel for Otto-type vehicles in Japan. The technologies for the improvement of durability of fuel injector, improvement of cold startability, and reduction of formaldehyde emission at cold start have been developed. The controlled fleet tests were also conducted on Diesel type vehicles using 5 City buses. The date relating to the fuel formulation, the emissions, and the performances, durability and reliability of the vehicles have been accumulated. Continuous measurement of formaldehyde in exhaust gas is now possible by the development of a second order derivative spectrophotometric method.

The ceramic gas turbine has high potential as an automotive engine in the future, because of its multifuel capability, good thermal efficiency and low exhaust emissions. The Petroleum Energy Center (PEC) has been developing a 100kW ceramic gas turbine (CGT) under the auspices of MITI in Japan. A 7 year program was started in 1990 and, after the interim target was attained, the program moved to engine testing. At the same time, a study on vehicle applications of CGT has been made in order to make full use of the superiority of CGT from the standpoint of energy usage and protecting the environment. In this study, CGT/BATTERY hybrid systems were investigated, mainly from the standpoint of fuel economy.