Fuel use in new cars could halve by 2030: IEA

PARIS (REUTERS) - Fuel consumption in new vehicles could be slashed by half in the next 20 years, helping the world curb its dependency on oil, provided governments set up bold policies to boost the use of available technologies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.

The transport sector, which consumes around one fifth of global primary energy, will account for nearly all the future growth in oil use, said the Paris-based agency, which advises industrial nations on energy policy.

The necessary technologies are already cost-effective, the IEA said, in that fuel savings outweigh the additional costs over vehicle life, but those are not deployed widely enough.

"Strong policies are needed to ensure that the full potential of these technologies is achieved over the next 10 to 20 years," the IEA said in one of two reports on the fuel economy of road vehicles. "Current technologies for conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles can reduce fuel consumption by half over the next 20 years."