As governments consider strategies to reduce emissions from transportation, a new Fuels Institute report provides valuable context to help guide their considerations, encouraging them to consider multiple perspectives before deciding how to proceed. “Impact of Transportation-Related Environmental Initiatives” takes an in-depth look at the relative effectiveness and associated costs to society, government, industry and consumers of 14 distinct transportation movements, including those focused on emissions, fuel economy and carbon pricing; alternative fuels; congestion pricing, tolls and telecommuting; and mobility.

“As the world continues to focus on the transportation-energy sector to positively impact the environment, we commissioned this report to provide a resource to help policymakers and stakeholders better understand the menu of options available,” said Fuels Institute Executive Director John Eichberger.

The report compares 14 movements in the areas of effectiveness, impact and cost over the next 20 years (2020–40). Effectiveness is a weighted average measure of emissions, fuel economy and vehicle demand in terms of shift to alternative powertrains; impact is defined by whether the movement is nationwide, prevalent in some states or limited to only a few regions or cities; cost includes those incurred by industry participants and/or consumers to comply with a movement.

“The report found a correlation for most movements between their effectiveness for reducing emissions and their overall cost—the more expensive an initiative, the more effective it might be, with some exceptions,” Eichberger explained.

Additionally, the report found that policies promoting vehicle electrification seem to yield significant emissions reductions but carry with them similarly significant costs. Those policies addressing biofuels yield moderate emissions reductions coupled with moderate costs. Meanwhile, some policies like telecommuting yield modest emissions benefits with minimal associated costs. “What becomes clear when evaluating the various options available is that there is no silver bullet—every initiative comes with offsetting compromises,” Eichberger explained.

The “Impact of Transportation-Related Environmental Initiatives” report is available at www.fuelsinstitute.org/research. You also can find an overview of the full 37 movements considered for this report.