Transportation: meeting the dual challenges of achieving energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Abstract

As the population and economy continue to grow globally, demand for energy will continue to grow. The transportation sector relies solely on petroleum for its energy supply. The United States and China are the top two oil-importing countries. A major issue both countries face and are addressing is energy insecurity as a result of the demand for liquid fuels. Improvements in the energy efficiency of vehicles and the substitution of petroleum fuels with alternative fuels can help contain growth in the demand for transportation oil. Although most alternative transportation fuels - when applied to advanced vehicle technologies - can substantially reduce greenhouse emissions, coal-based liquid fuels may increase greenhouse gas emissions by twice as much as gasoline. Such technologies as carbon capture and storage may need to be employed to manage the greenhouse gas emissions of coal-based fuels. At present, there is no ideal transportation fuel option to solve problems related to transportation energy and greenhouse gas emissions. To solve these problems, research and development efforts are needed for a variety of transportation fuel options and advanced vehicle technologies.

Keywords

transportation energy / energy security / greenhouse gases / alternative fuels / vehicle technologies

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Acknowledgements

Argonne National Laboratory’s work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, under contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg