Big Ideas 2014: Transportation and Energy

ATLANTA - Dec. 31, 2013 - PRLog -- 2014 will be a defining year for the transportation and energy industries. This will be the year when the deployment of dedicated alternative fuel stations and alternative fuel additions to existing fossil fuel stations will become the rule, and no longer will be the exception to the rule. A diversity of fuels and technologies offers flexibility in reaching energy and emissions goals. We have increased from one Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) model in 1991 to over 150 Alternative Fuel Vehicle models available from Original Equipment Manufacturers (O.E.M.). There are currently 938,643 AFVs on U.S. roads today, and this number is growing daily with consumers and fleets making alternative fuel vehicle purchasing decisions from O.E.M. and After-Market Converters. Fuel station infrastructure will no longer be driven by the number of fleet vehicles that are committed to its’ usage, but by the demand based on the numbers of AFVs determined by the imminent deadlines of meeting energy and emissions goals. Can you imagine the implications for air quality improvement?

Based on this, and the turning tide of the United States energy flow brought on by the resurgence of oil and gas production from advancements in hydrofracking along with the global spread of unconventional gas production, it should come as no surprise the speed with which consumers, fleets, municipalities and states will embrace the change to alternative fuels, now that access to fuel resources will be less of an issue. Since 1991 refueling options grew at an extremely slow pace with 90% of growth occurring in the past three years. Energy developments in the United States are profound and their effect will be felt well beyond North America – and the energy sector. By around 2020, the United States is projected to become the largest global oil producer (overtaking Saudi Arabia until the mid-2020s) and we are already starting to see the impact of new fuel-efficiency measures in transport. The result is a continued fall in US oil imports, to the extent that North America becomes a net oil exporter around 2030.

Expect to see collaborative efforts between US State Departments, states, politicians, clean cities programs, municipalities, fuel suppliers, fuel infrastructure builders, O.E.M’s, after market converters, energy and alternative fuel organizations; each purporting how their ability and capacity can be reallocated to revenue-generating activities to drive the top line.

With the US coming to the fore-front as a global energy producer the game changes. The global energy map is changing, with potentially far-reaching consequences for energy markets and trade. No longer will it be a financially sound decision amongst industry leaders to impede alternative fuels in the market-place conversely the sound decision will be to move alternative fuels expeditiously into the US market and forge relationships for export to foreign markets riding the wave of North America as a net oil exporter.

2014 will usher in four indispensible catapults that will seize the extraordinary opportunities that transportation and energy presents. These opportunities will completely redefine the energy landscape; the unfretted deployment of alternative fuels station infrastructure, global spread of unconventional gas production, top-down collaboration, and the US broaching the fore-front of global energy production. These inductions into the US economy will give consumers and businesses much greater access to affordable, cleaner and more secure energy, thus making the US and the world more productive, prosperous, and healthier.

Transportation and Energy Changing Movement and Access will not solely define 2014 more importantly it will be re-defined in 2014. We have much to accomplish to move forward in 2014.