Westport at the 2012 Energy Independence Summit

The 2012 Energy Independence Summit, sponsored in part by Westport, was held last month in Washington DC. Organized by Transportation Energy Partners, the event gave Clean Cities coordinators a chance to share best practices and educate federal policy makers about the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Program and the need to overcome the barriers to the widespread use of clean vehicles and fuels.

Jonathan Burke, Westport Vice President, Global Market Development, moderated a round table discussion sponsored by Westport: “State of the Clean Fuels & Vehicle Industry: Barriers and Opportunities.” The summit also featured sessions and presentations from  clean transportation experts on:

·         Federal funding and incentives to promote alternative fuels, vehicles and infrastructure

·         Successful alternative fuels and vehicle projects across the country

·         Innovative state and local policies and programs that are advancing markets for cleaner fuels and vehicles

Clean Cities Coordinators and industry partners had a day on Capitol Hill, briefing Congressional leaders about the alternative fuel, advanced vehicle and infrastructure projects as well as other successes achieved with support of government leaders and industry.

Keynote speakers included White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley and University of California, Davis Institute of Transportation Studies Director Daniel Sperling. Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy was the special guest speaker.

According to the Energy Independence Summit website, TEP has been, since 2002, organizing an event in Washington, D.C., that allows Clean Cities representatives to speak with their legislators. This year’s summit provided an opportunity to demonstrate the broad-based grassroots support among business leaders, state and local government officials, and community leaders for clean transportation energy policies that enhance energy security and create new jobs.The summit highlighted the need for the global economy to look at ways to reduce the use of oil as a transportation fuel because of its implications to energy security, climate change and health effects.  The issue of energy security, the reduction of oil imports and the development of alternative domestic sources for energy was a focus of discussions. Incentives (both monetary and non monetary) and policies that promote the use of alternative fuel vehicles are needed to bring certainty to the market and to help transition the market away from oil.    One of the barriers to adoption has been the the higher cost to consumers of alt fuel vehicles, plus anxiety over fuel availability, supply and infrastructure.  

Despite the higher vehicle prices, the lower cost of fuels such as natural gas make the case for alt fuels, especially in the trucking sector, more compelling.  Jim Bruce from UPS highlighted that by reducing the costs in trucking, it reduces the costs of goods and is good for the economy.

This year’s event was a great success in educating policy makers and politicians about the importance of promoting alternative fuels and vehicles for the long term growth of the economy, promoting energy security and petroleum reduction programs, and providing  lower GHG alternatives to traditional fuels.

Westport Participates in National Petroleum Council Study

In June 2010, Westport was asked by The National Petroleum Council (NPC) to participate in a national transportation energy study.  Dr. Steven Chu, the U.S. Secretary of Energy had asked the NPC to identify what mix of alternative fuels and vehicles could be possible in 2050 to shift the transportation sector towards better reliability, security, independence and lower carbon, along with a 50 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction.  

The NPC is a U.S. federal advisory committee established in 1946 to advise the Secretary of Energy on oil and gas related matters. Since its formation in 1946, the Council has prepared over 200 reports, which deal with virtually every aspect of oil and gas operations.

More than 400 people representing all areas of industry and government have participated in the study to date. Mike Gallagher (Westport Senior Advisor and former President of Westport) recruited and chaired a 60-person natural gas team with representatives from OEMs, major oil and gas companies, fuel supply/demand, academia and non-governmental organizations, and led the draft of a comprehensive chapter addressing the natural gas fuel supply chain and engines/vehicles. Mike sees Westport participation in the study as an excellent opportunity to influence the thinking and policy of the US Administration on transportation alternative fuels and natural gas. An added benefit: “Westport is also gaining visibility with a large array of major oil companies, and other key stakeholders in the US energy system,” he says.

In addition to her role at Westport, Karen Hamberg (Westport Vice President of Sustainable Energy Futures) was seconded to the study as a core member of four teams: i) natural gas, ii) GHG emission reductions, iii) heavy duty economics, and iv) report integration. As the study moves toward completion, she is heavily involved in the report editing team to finalize the remaining chapters.

“The study is greatly raising understanding and credibility of the natural gas transportation industry among a wide array of thought leaders in government, industry, and academia,” Karen says. “There is currently a gap in the literature specific to natural gas for transportation.  The quantitative and analytical phase of the study evaluates how the different fuels and vehicle technology streams would compete and integrate under a range of economic scenarios.  Significant market shares for LD and HD vehicles will further support the economic competitiveness and environmental performance of natural gas vehicles.”

The study is grounded in technology and economics, and has been separated into two phases. In the first phase, each of the five fuel teams (natural gas, electricity, biofuels, hydrogen and liquid hydrocarbons) determined what contribution that particular fuel or vehicle technology could make to the greenhouse gas emissions targets and what economic, technical or regulatory barriers need to be overcome in order to reach those targets.  Phase two was a lengthy analytical process to evaluate how different fuels and technologies would compete and integrate under differing economic scenarios. This resulted in detailed projections of the adoption of new technologies in the transport sector.

Impressions of GLOBE2012 from a Westport Energy Analyst

In a recent blog post we mentioned that several Westport employees (Westporters) would be attending the GLOBE2012 conference and contributing their thoughts and impressions to the blog. One of our energy analysts, Ganesh Khanna, a recent graduate of UBC and new employee to Westport offers his reflections on the conference:

In March I had the opportunity to attend the GLOBE sustainability conference held in Vancouver.  As someone who is relatively new to the huge umbrella that is corporate sustainability, I was eager to hear about what other companies were doing and how Westport could learn from them.

This wasn’t my first sustainability conference but it was the first that had a bit of ‘kick’.  Whether it was a banana-outfit-clad activist questioning Dole about their supply chain practices, audience members unconvinced of the progress in sustainable initiatives being made by oil and gas companies, or the backlash on Twitter that Environment Minister Peter Kent caused with his response on withdrawing Canada from the Kyoto Protocol (search #globe2012 to see all the comments). It was apparent that audience members were prepared to hold panelists accountable for their actions.

The conference was titled Building a Sustainable Economy for the 21^st Century.  Topics included climate policy and energy efficiency, maintaining an efficient supply chain, sustainable consumption, and water security.  One topic that I felt was clearly missing was the future of transportation.  With rising prices at the pump and people looking for alternative transportation, not to mention the growing demand for cars in developing countries, I expected more discussion around what’s currently happening both locally and globally. Obviously this is a discussion that is directly relevant to our success at Westport and one we would have welcomed, expanding further on CEO David Demers’ participation on one of the panels. The conference was well-run with knowledgeable panelists and (more importantly) an engaged audience. I feel, though, that there was a missed opportunity by GLOBE2012 to fully explore a sustainable economy. Hopefully two years from now we’ll see this as a highlight.