Abstract
Environmental pollution and depletion of resources from the combustion of fossil fuels have necessitated the need for biofuels in recent years. Oxygenated fuels such as low carbon alcohols have received significant attention from the scientific community in the last two decades as a strategy to decarbonize the transport sector. However, a documentation of the progress, paradigm, and trend of this research area on a global scale is currently limited. In the current study, the bibliometric analysis is adopted to analyze the global transition of automotive fuels from conventional oils to low carbon alcohols in the 21st century. A dataset of 2250 publications was extracted from the Web of Science Core database and analyzed with CiteSpace, Biblioshiny, and Bibexcel. Interest in methanol and ethanol combustion research as transportation fuels is increasing, with a 70% estimated growth by the end of the next decade compared to current levels. China, India, and USA have been the major players in the research field, with Tianjin University being the most influential institution. Research has primarily centered on the combustion, performance, and emission characteristics of ethanol fuel. Alternative fuels to compete actively with low carbon fuel in the near foreseeable future are green hydrogen and biodiesel. Advanced combustion technologies and artificial intelligence are sure to increase in this research area in the coming decades.