Obama outlines energy agenda

 

While hydrogen fuel cells are a long-term vision, advocates of natural gas-fueled vehicles say that they can start now doing their part. To that end, those same proponents say that vehicle manufacturers must get behind the idea and produce products that are as good as those that use petroleum. The government, furthermore, must also endorse the idea through tax-favored legislation to promote the cars, the fuel source and the fueling infrastructure 

 

“As we replace oil with fuels like natural gas and biofuels, we can also reduce our dependence by making cars and trucks that use less oil in the first place,” President Obama said in his energy speech. “After all, 70 percent of our petroleum consumption goes to transportation.” 

The federal government, he adds, will lead by example: It operates more than 600,000 fleet vehicles, some of which have already been converted to hybrids that run on both electricity and gasoline. But the president said that he will direct all federal agencies to start purchasing alternatively-fueled vehicles by 2015. 

Twenty-three states are also considering legislation to support natural gas as a transportation fuel, says the Natural Gas Vehicles for America. It adds that natural gas cost about one-third less than gasoline and that there are now about 110,000 such vehicles on the road in the United States, most of which are part of fleets. 

Obviously, a lot of work needs to be done. For starters, the infrastructure to support those natural gas-fired vehicles is not pervasive. Only about 1,500 filling stations exist across the country, which makes driving long distances impractical. Beyond that, the tanks hold less fuel while consumers don’t have a lot of product choices. 

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a steady growth in interest in natural gas vehicles from government and private fleets,” says Richard Kolodziej, president of NGVAmerica. "But with the recent spike in (gas) prices, we’re seeing an even bigger spike in fleet calls. Saving over $1 per gallon in fuel cost has gotten everyone’s attention. The fact that natural gas is primarily a domestic fuel and that NGVs produce less urban pollution and greenhouse gases is just an added bonus.” 

Drilling Ban

 

The Obama administration’s push to replace some oil with natural gas is part of a broader plan. Oil imports are now 9.5 million barrels a day, says the Energy Information Administration, all part of the 19 million barrels a day that the nation now consumes. 

 

The president signed legislation in 2007 raising the fuel efficiency standards to 35.5 miles per gallon beginning in 2016. The White House is also planning to increase that threshold even more after that. Obama, further, is proposing to increase the use of advanced cellulosic biofuels to run cars. 

 

The administration wants to break ground on at least four such commercial-scale bio-refineries using wood chips and switch grass over the next two years. After that, the president has set his eyes on putting 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015 -- all supported with a proposed $7,500 tax credit for consumers as well as competitive grants for communities that encourage such adoption. 

 

For its part, the Republican leadership is developing its own energy legislation that remains centered on increasing the use of nuclear and cleaner coal technologies. To their surprise, the president did not back away from either of these ideas during his talk. But the conservatives are critical of what they call Obama’s restrictive drilling policies in the outer continental shelf, in the aftermath of the BP oil spill.  

 

“Over the past two years, the administration has undertaken what can only be described as a war on American energy,” says Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “It’s cancelled dozens of drilling leases. It’s declared a moratorium on drilling off the Gulf Coast ... In short, it’s done just about everything it can to keep our own energy sector from growing.” 

The stated goal of every presidential administration since that of Nixon has been to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil imports. While all sides will spew a lot of gibberish, they have each proclaimed a willingness to find common ground. Now’s their chance with all the global conflict and subsequent uncertainty. 

 

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energybizinsider@energycentral.com.

 

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