Market Barriers to Alternative Fuels



Posted: Wednesday, June 13, 2007

by
Planet Berry LLC

Alternative fuels are our future. On this topic there is very little argument. We, as nations, cannot continue on the path we have been on if our future generations are to have a planet and infrastructure to sustain life and happiness as we have known it. Future generations will be dictated from what we do right now and over the next 2-3 years. We don’t have the luxury of studying it anymore. In order for alternative fuels like bio or hydrogen fuel cells to become commercially viable we need a market.

In order to have a market we must have a buyer and a manufacturing agent that provides a product. With fuel based products there is one more key ingredient. The infrastructure throughout the supply chain. So what is this you ask? The infrastructure is both the pumping stations and the physical plants to produce the products. Then you need the unique suppliers who build the parts unique to the new tanks both in the vehicles and in the ground or where ever the fuel is stored at the delivery station. So, how do we get there? Well, big business would say they don’t see a buyer or thus a market to invest in the plants and tooling needed to produce the fuels. The buying public would hold off buying a product that is bleeding edge and thus limited support once they drive it off the lot of their auto dealership locally. In addition, its one thing to buy it it’s a whole other question to answer as to where to re-fuel the tank which leads us to the true market barrier in our opinion.

Today, there are very few if any non fossil fuel stations where someone can refill their alternative fuel vehicle. There are experiments in the field today albeit limited but they are out there and today their support is typically centrally located and thus limited at best to full functional testing. You wouldn’t try a drive through the Mojave Desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on an alternative fuel vehicle today. However, if you had stations setup in Barstow, Baker and the border of Las Vegas you might reconsider your decision as the way points are much more conducive to you safety should something happen to your vehicle en-route. So, it’s back to the chicken and the egg. All sides want the end result which in this case is a non polluting non fossil fuel vehicle. But who goes first? The United States is not the best country at launching ventures like this. We tend to offer grants and thus research environments but when it comes to the Commercial world we turn to private industry to solve it. Given the decades of build out of our current fossil fuel environment we do not believe that the government cannot be involved. If the USA funded the first 20% of the overall re-fueling stations across the USA the rest would follow and private industry would have its risk reward ROI (return on investment) all set up for venture capital to enter the fray. Not unlike what Germany has done with the financing of the solar industry in country. It can be done. We are entering a unique period whereby a new President will be voted in. Our current President will leave office due to our two term maximum. The time is now to find the candidate that understands this problem and get behind them. This election is all about fueling our Green Planet needs. Make no mistake.

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