Westport’s own Karen Hamberg, VP Sustainable Energy Futures, presented this week at a University of Calgary symposium on the future of transportation fuels. The Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISSEE) at the U of Calgary focused on this topic for the symposium because the shale gas revolution has changed the economics of energy, and could transform the transportation sector in North America. The session was an opportunity for delegates to consider the pros and cons of such a transformation before making policy recommendations to government that could either support or deter natural gas transport. ISEEE partnered with The Van Horne Institute and Calgary Economic Development in presenting the symposium.
 |
| Speakers and delegates at the Fueling the Future symposium. Photo courtesy of Bryndis K. Whitson, Van Horne Institute. |
Karen along with Graham Williams, principal of G-PWilliams Consulting and Co-chair of the Natural Gas Group and the National Petroleum Future Transportations Fuels study, were invited because of their participation in the two-year study coordinated by the National Petroleum Council titled: Fueling the Future: Advancing Technology for North America’s Transportation Future. Hamberg and Williams wrote the natural gas portion of the study that was released in August 2012 and contributed to several other chapters.
“Westport is still heavily involved in the ongoing outreach and communication efforts on behalf of the NPC,” explained Karen. “With recent infrastructure announcements from Shell and industry players like Encana, ATCO Gas and Cenovus Energy investing in natural gas vehicles, Alberta is one of Canada’s leaders in the shift towards natural gas for transportation. We are delighted that our hosts from the University of Calgary brought such a diverse group of policy-makers, influencers, industry, academics and ENGOs together to discuss the economic, technological and infrastructure requirements for the deployment of natural gas vehicles.”
The NPC study was developed for the U.S. Secretary of Energy to advise on the future of transportation fuels for automotive, air, truck, rail, and waterborne applications – specifically related to fuel demand, supply infrastructure and technology. Karen and Graham were among other officials from industry, academia and government who discussed the report findings to determine what actions industry and government can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from American transportation by 50 percent in the year 2050.
"Countries around the world are on the verge of transforming their energy system,” said David Layzell, Executive Director with ISEEE. “To inform the policy and investment decision that will drive this transformation, we need to assess the costs, benefits and tradeoffs associated with various resources and technologies. The NPC's study on Transportation fuels helps to fill this need."
No comments:
Post a Comment