A Technological Energy Competition

by BWK ~ February 21, 2008

The energy competition of the future is not just political, over access to resources.

The competition is technological as well, over the efficient use of those resources. Who or what — which “system,” in many respects — can make better use of the limited, scarce and depleting resources?

In the realm of hydrocarbons, will incremental improvements in energy efficiency be able to keep pace with rising costs for fuel? And by extension, will better technology be albe to compete with depletion of the basic, underlying energy resource? That’s a key issue for society in general and investors in particular.

Boeing, for example, believes that “the future of freighters is now.” According to Boeing, its two new large freighter programs — involving improved versions of the B-777 and venerable B-747 — “will provide a 16 to 34 percent improvement in CO2 and fuel efficiency relative to today’s large freighters.”

Air freight might seem like a luxury, interms of fuel burn for distance traveled. But some products do lend themselves to rapid air transport over long distances. And air freight will not just disappear from the skies, in almost any forseeable economic environment. This is where Boeing is focusing its efforts.

Boeing freighters currently account for more than 90% of the world’s dedicated freighter capacity. The B-747 freighter family alone accounts for more than half of that capacity.

So the B-777 and improved B-787 freighters will allow freight carriers to compete in a high-cost fuel environment.

More on this from Boeing:
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2008/q1/080221a_nr.html

-BWK