The ProblemResearch and Development on Technologies for Alternatively Fueled Vehicles

  • Rising gas prices cutting into business profits - costs increased an average 22% per year over tthe last 10 years
  • In 2008, gasoline prices soared to over $4 per gallon
  • In 2009, gasoline prices retreated to under $2.00 per gallon
  • By the end of 2010, gasoline had risen to over $3.00 per gallon
  • By the end of the first quarter of 2011, gasoline prices have more than doubled in less than 2 years

Increased CO2 emissions and continued dependency on fossil fuels

  • The United States released more carbon dioxide into the air than any other country last year
  • Growth rate of carbon emissions worldwide tripled in the first four years of this decade as compared with the 1990s

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy use are projected to grow from 5,945 million metric tons in 2005 to 7,950 million metric tons in 2030

  • EPA is under pressure to raise emissions standards
  • Recent Supreme Court ruling states EPA does need to regulate greenhouse gases
  • London, New York and other major cities are enacting or considering "daily entry" taxes - the transportation/delivery sector will be greatly effected