From a wide variety of energy policy perspectives – be it reliability, affordability, security or redundancy – we will continue to need not just electrons but also molecules to meet society’s energy needs. Electricity and fuels play very different roles in our energy system. We cannot have just one or the other, and we cannot “electrify everything”. We need a secure supply of both.
That reality provides a responsibility and an opportunity for those in the fuels sector, whether in production, refining, transportation or distribution, to reduce the carbon intensity of their product. While efforts to decarbonize electricity systems are fairly well understood by the general public, efforts and advances in decarbonizing fuels have received less attention. From biofuels to hydrogen, and from renewable diesel to compressed natural gas, innovations in clean fuel development and uptake will play an important role in our climate goals.
Unfortunately, many policies to advance the development of clean fuels have been contradictory, with some have had the effect of chilling, rather than incentivizing investment. A coordinated policy approach that supports both producers and consumers to move towards cleaner fuels is needed.
This panel brings together experts from across the fuels industry spectrum to discuss the innovations they are advancing, and what policies would help them go further.
Speakers
