News from Washington these days is focused on energy policy. Cap-and-trade, oil drilling in the Gulf, and energy security are all headline stories. All of these stories center on the key question: what policies should our federal government follow in order to achieve energy security and sustainable environmental stewardship?

   Two reports have been released by Resources for the Future and the National Energy Policy Institute that contributes to this debate. Both studies compare a comprehensive set of public policies for reducing imported oil and greenhouse gas emissions. The studies confirm that natural gas fueled-trucks can dramatically reduce our dependence on imported OPEC oil, while simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions. You can view the studies at the links below. Be forewarned, the studies are academic and complex in nature. While full of interesting information, they are not a light reading assignment. Make sure you start a pot of coffee before diving in.

1.Energy, Greenhouse Gas, and Economic Implications of Natural Gas Trucks by Alan Krupnick, Resources for the Future and National Energy Policy Institute (http://www.rff.org/Documents/Features/NEPI/RFF-BCK-Krupnick-NaturalGasTrucks.pdf)

2.Toward a New National Energy Policy: Assessing the Options, various authors, Resources for the Future and National Energy Policy Institute (http://www.rff.org/Documents/RFF_NEPI_Exec_Summary.pdf)

   The first study is one of several performed by the organizations to evaluate the impact of various public policies on reducing foreign oil and greenhouse gas emissions. These individual policy studies feed into the second study which provides a comparative assessment of the policy options.

   The chief finding is that natural gas trucks are the most effective measure to reduce imports of OPEC oil compared to every other option. Significantly, natural gas trucks were also in the most cost-effective category of policy measures. The study authors found that natural gas trucks can reduce our demand for imported oil by over 2 million barrels per day. The authors found the additional benefit from natural gas trucks in reducing CO2 emissions by 1.821 million metric tons during the study period of 2011 to 2030.

   Interestingly, the authors found that subsidies for hybrid vehicles alone show no progress in reducing oil use. This finding will obviously raise eyebrows, so see page 25 of the second report for more details.

   We have a consensus that the U.S. imports too much oil from OPEC. Study after study have found Natural gas-fueled trucks to be the best opportunity to immediately begin reducing OPEC imports. Let’s hope our elected officials in Washington take notice and implement policies that will improve America’s future by encouraging America’s fuel.

By Greg Roche, Director, Business Development, Clean Energy

Big Truck TV

August 04, 2010

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