The drive towards clean emissions is likely to see gas-electric hybrids and advanced diesel powertrains capture a larger share of the US light vehicle market, according to the latest analysis.

A detailed new report from the U-M Transportation Research Institute's Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation (OSAT), produced in conjunction with the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Centre and funded by the National Commission on Energy Policy and the Michigan Environmental Council, underlines the growing influence of the clean car alternatives.

Indeed, by 2009 the two transport technologies are expected to account for 11 per cent of the US light vehicle market, with 1.8 million hybrids and advanced diesels being sold.

The study, which is entitled 'Fuel Saving Technologies and Facility Conversion: Costs, Benefits and Incentives', outlines a future in which clean technology is a commercial reality, as OSAT's Patrick Hammett explained.

"These scenarios are just that-pictures of what might happen," he commented. "But the farther out you go, say to 2012 or beyond, the more likely they become. So the real question is probably less whether they will happen than it is when they will happen."

The report also indicates that the growth of the clean technology market is likely to threaten jobs, with a growth rate of seven per cent resulting in a loss of 131,000 jobs.

The authors of the report say that the potentially damaging effects of this trend could be counterbalanced by offering incentives for component and vehicle manufacturers to invest in the US.