Citizens and policymakers in many countries have never been more committed to combating climate change across all sectors. One high-emitting sector that is often overlooked, when compared to industry and manufacturing, is transportation. Transport currently contributes 23% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and 20% of energy use. Globally, the sector is expected to double by 2030, according to IEA. Decarbonizing transport is a major challenge with some strong and powerful advocates calling for a single one-shot solution (electrification). However, achieving decarbonization in the transport sector will require multiple strategies that understand fossil fuel demand will remain in place for some time. In response, industry groups have looked to low carbon fuels and vehicles (LCFV) initiatives as a potential decarbonization strategy.
LCFVs are designed to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change by reducing conventional fossil fuel demand in transportation. Policymakers are beginning to implement these initiatives under an array of climate policies and renewable standards, requiring biofuels blending, electrification, other alternative fuels and tough fuel efficiency standards, among other measures. But, are policymakers doing enough to diversify fuels, improve efficiency and reduce emissions in the transport sector?
Currently, transportation emissions mitigation is largely overshadowed by mitigation of coal-fired power plants, but the consequences of the growing transport sector are just as, if not more immediate. The global car fleet is expected to double in the next 20-25 years, and with oil prices so low, people are driving more than ever, particularly in the U.S. The march toward a global carbon-smart economy is going to continue, although how it will evolve in the U.S. is yet to be determined. Low carbon fuels, zero emission vehicles, oil demand and air pollution mitigation all are part of the climate change policy mix, and how best to balance these various pieces will be critical for federal and state policymakers.
The problem is not the fuels but where they come from. Synthetic fuels can eliminate up to 95% of pollutants from Internal Combustion Engines of all types. That synthetic fuels… Read more »
The author highlights that transportation may be a more challenging sector to decarbonize than electricity. While market forces are pushing coal from the grid, stronger policies will be needed to accelerate the… Read more »
Daniel you are making the most common of mistakes. It is not the engine but where the fuel comes from. A clean synthetic fuel will get it’s carbon from the… Read more »
I think it will require multiple solutions that include ZEVs, tighter fuel economy standards and advanced alternative fuels among others. And this seems to be the way policymakers in many… Read more »
Fully agree with you, Tammy, both about the need for multiple solutions and the likelihood of a push to “de-car” in urban areas. I think, though, that the latter won’t… Read more »
The narrative and comments are predicated on CO2 being a serious problem. That is a hypothesis that is yet to be proved beyond climate models. CO2 is a greenhouse gas… Read more »
Bill: I’m not sure what alternative universe you are referring to. The entire scientific community, including every major scientific academy in the world, says that global warming is real, is… Read more »
Nothing in my comments suggest that global warming and climate change are not real or that humans have no impact. The mostly from humans aspect comes from the models which… Read more »
Mr. O’Keefe the largest solar collectors in the world work on a 24/7/52 basis with an almost totally consistent supply of energy to be extracted. The problem is that the… Read more »
Bill: I’m sorry if I misunderstood your comments. I thought you were claiming that climate scientists have overstated the level and probability of future warming by saying their models were… Read more »
A little sarcasm doesn’t help your argument. Let’s leave it that you and I see the world differently, especially the view that science is determined by votes not experiments.… Read more »
Bill: All sarcasm aside, this is not just a case of seeing the world differently. As was the case with Galileo, Jupiter really does have moons orbiting it and the… Read more »
[…] Submitted by admin on December 19, 2016 – 2:53 pmNo Comment by Tammy Klein (Future Fuel Strategies/OurEnergyPolicy.org) Citizens and policymakers in many countries have never been more committed to… Read more »
Are the current climate change efforts adequate for addressing transportation? Absolutely not!! Those who enthusiastically support EVs while complaining that an ethanol blend fuel kills their lawn equipment need to… Read more »
Perhaps our approach to EVs needs a new paradigm. In the electric power industry high costs for electricity occur because we have built electric power systems that are designed to… Read more »
Herschel – Your analysis is basically correct except the size of the battery is not the big thing, it is the energy loss from rapid charging. I have written about… Read more »
Bill: One can make methanol in a variety of ways, such as from natural gas. If the incoming administration wants to give a bone to the coal industry it might… Read more »
A pioneer of modern EV technology was AC Propulsion. For their prototype “T-Zero” sports car, the solution to the range problem was a custom “range extender” trailer. It hugged the rear… Read more »
Certainly low carbon or other alternate liquid fuels could contribute a huge amount to the security of the OECD vis-a-vis the Middle East. In 2009, Senator Specter asked me to… Read more »