The mission of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Subcommittee on Transport of Energy Products AT000 (2) is to cross boundaries between committees, and advance and publicize research on energy transport issues facing the nation, states and communities. It is a forum for systems thinking about the multimodal transportation network that supports transport of energy products from production regions to processing facilities, storage, and retail outlets.
Energy commodity transportation infrastructure networks are in flux as they respond to rapid changes in sourcing and consumption, and many topics are ripe for formal research such as:
- Understanding emerging domestic and international energy markets and shifts in production locations that are driving changes in transport patterns
- Providing robust methods to assess, adapt and/or reconstruct transportation infrastructure, supply chain and logistics practices, and storage needs for energy products (crude oil and refined products, biofuels, LNG/CNG, ethanol, etc.)
- Providing data-based tools to assess and mitigate the impacts of these changes on communities
- Infrastructure design, construction and maintenance.
- Impact on the U.S. rail system of the change from coal powered plants to alternate energy sources
- Uses of energy, how will the demand for cleaner transportation change the location and operation of multimodal corridors and the transportation network?
Please see the Subcommittee’s Critical Issues page here for a more comprehensive list of research topics.
We welcome your participation and ideas for research. Please contact Chair Ivanov at [email protected] to join the Subcommittee.
The Subcommittee on Transport of Energy Products is sponsored by the Freight Systems Group (AT000). Please note that there are other excellent TRB groups working on issues related to transportation and energy such as:
- The Committee on Transportation of Hazardous Materials’ (AT040) priority is improving safety; it has a broader focus on all hazmat materials.
- The Subcommittee on Crude Oil’s (within AT040) work is specific to crude oil. Those with a deep interest in rail car safety may want to get involved with AT040, or the Freight Rail Transportation Committee (AR040).
- The TRB Study of Domestic Transportation of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Ethanol is a funded study within the policy group that will be completed in the next 1-2 years. Please see http://www.trb.org/PolicyStudies/DomesticTransportationofPetroleumNaturalGasandEtha.aspx