The tables turned recently and I was the one being interviewed by AFPM for its Flash Point podcast about a paper I wrote and presentation I made for AFPM’s recent annual meeting in San Antonio on global fuel developments, specifically low carbon fuel and vehicles (LCFV) issues. (The paper and presentation are available for Future Fuels Outlook service clients here. Learn more about the Future Fuels Outlook service.
I said, both in the paper and to the audience, why should you care about LCFV issues? Here’s why:
“If you are a refiner, why should you care about what is happening elsewhere? Crude oil and the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) compliance are chief among your concerns right now, or so I have been told. Understood. However, it is absolutely imperative that refiners in the U.S. and globally understand what’s happening in global biofuels, fuel economy and ZEVs to assess strategic threats, especially to demand, as well as opportunities. And these issues need to be considered holistically.
There are very strong dynamics and players globally with respect to air pollution and climate change mitigation, and in transport, that are pushing these LCFV initiatives to the forefront both in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. The calls to increase biofuels blending (especially of advanced biofuels), strengthen fuel economy standards (or put them in place for the first time), implement ZEV mandates and incentive policies have the potential to fundamentally change demand for oil and conventional fuels in the U.S. and globally.”
This presentation and paper reviews these kinds of global initiatives and then refers to the recent IEA, BP and ExxonMobil recent outlooks to pinpoint potential impacts to the industry.
In the podcast, I talk about the paper, focusing on LCFV developments and what it means for the refining industry. This one is a very digestible 10 minutes!
Tammy Klein is a consultant and strategic advisor providing market and policy intelligence and analysis on transportation fuels to the auto and oil industries, governments, and NGOs. She writes and advises on petroleum fuels, biofuels, alternative fuels, automotive fuels, and fuels policy.