Alternative Fuel and Vehicle Conference
As the year 2009 gets closer and closer to its final few months, there can be no doubt that the issues taking more and more of the column inches and the attention of our politicians are, more than any other, the economy and the environment. There are some who would argue that concentration on one of these issues precludes attention being given to the other ' surely cheap energy is environmentally unsound, and green energy is expensive? The contention of the Alternative Fuel & Vehicle Conference is, however, that this could not be further from the truth. In actual fact, the organizers claim, there has never been a better time to look at green alternatives than now, while we are facing the questions of the biggest recession to hit the world since the first half of the 20th Century.
From the 22nd to the 25th of April this year, the 2009 Alternative Fuel & Vehicle Conference took place at Walt Disney World in Orlando. It was billed as the premier international event covering alternative fuels and vehicles which can use them. For fleet managers and other people seeking to discover the best way to fuel a large transport solution in a cleaner way, the opportunities offered by the conference are second to none. Among the topics covered at the many presentations and conference stalls were: government grants for alternative fuels; ways to cut emissions from large commercial fleets; and new, green vehicle technology to empower businesses to make the important changes that will become more and more important in the coming years.
The conference was attended and exhibited at by many of the most prominent energy companies and vehicle manufacturers in the world. The impression is very much that now we have taken some steps on the road towards energy efficiency, it is a genie that cannot be pushed back into its bottle. Among the exhibitors and sponsors of the event were Clean Energy Fuels, General Motors and the bus fleet company Foton America. Other major vehicle manufacturers such as Honda and Toyota ' both famed manufacturers of hybrid automobiles ' were also present at the exhibition. Their presence was designed to highlight the non-petroleum options available to drivers and companies, including natural gas, propane and electricity.
Among the information included in the pre-event publicity was a stunning statistic. At the time of the first Alternative Fuel & Vehicle Conference in April 1994, a barrel of crude oil cost just $16.38. Now, we are looking at prices upwards of $75 a barrel, and expecting that to rise. It is becoming financially and environmentally less sustainable to operate by the old means, and a conference which addresses issues of fuel efficiency and petroleum displacement is an indispensable part of the fight back. With presentations on topics as varied as 'The Promise of Biomethane' and fuel cell transportation, the 2009 conference was judged to be a huge success. The 2010 conference, to be held from May 9-12 next year, will be the first post-Copenhagen. It will be interesting to follow how things develop between now and then.
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