As I sit on the flight home from the Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Conference in Anaheim, I must admit that right now I find myself more concerned with another type of pollution we rarely discuss here--noise.

I have a splitting headache, the lady behind me won’t shut up, and the flight attendant is “not licensed” to dispense Advil.

Still, I suppose things like peak oil, international terrorism and the coming global drought deserve more attention than my choppy ride across the breadth of our nation.

As one speaker at the conference put it, “a perfect storm is brewing.” I know--cliché. But he’s right.

We’re looking straight at triple-digit oil. China and India--with their vast and rapidly growing populations--are fiercely vying for a limited number of resources.

And water, yes, the sweet nectar of life on which some African families survive with just two buckets a day, may soon spark wars that were once only needed to settle religious differences. Not that they ever worked.

And the hefty amounts of noxious gases floating around--which, by the way, limited my visibility in L.A. to three blocks and tinged my nose hairs like a smoker’s moustache--are not helping matters much either.

Yes, this does have the makings of a perfect storm.

But the worst part is, we’re actually paying for all of it . . . without even a second thought!

James Woolsey, former head of the CIA, said it best: “Depending on the Middle East for 97% of our fuel needs is sheer madness, given the instability and volatility in the region.”

The predicament in which the world currently finds itself is as unique as it is dire. And there is no silver bullet solution.

But one thing is clear:  by failing to adapt, evolve, and change our ways, we are condemned to calamitous consequences.

And it is out of that uncertainty and fear that we are now starting to act. Not as left or right, not as right and wrong, but as humans--with a general human instinct to live and to prosper.

New Solutions, New Opportunities

Today’s combination of energy and environmental problems has actually existed for quite some time. Though in its early stages, it was more like a puzzle.

We were able to rearrange certain pieces to accommodate our perceived needs at any given time. Certainly you recall the introduction of catalytic converters and the banning of CFCs. No?

But what has since changed is that these problems are now more of a mystery than a puzzle. We’re being challenged to create new pieces and align them strategically to attain a desired outcome--energy independence, clean air, financial wealth, and healthy generations living on a healthy planet for generations to come.

And we’re getting there. Advocacy groups raise awareness, local and then national non-profits drum up support, solutions are provided by start-ups and small business, all culminating in adoption and mass production by large corporations.

I’d say we’re entering the last phase in the here and now.

There is wide and rapidly growing production of biofuels. Solar is entering a new era with the advent and increasing efficiency of thin film technology. Wind-generated power is growing rapidly throughout the EU, China and the U.S.

We’ve seen huge companies like GM and Ford partner with solutions providers to begin wide-scale production of alternative fuel vehicles and hybrids, ranging from sedans to heavy-duty trucks.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying we’re there yet, not by a long shot. There are still some kinks to work out, and incentives need to last longer than it actually takes to implement them.

But we’re moving in the right direction.

Especially when it comes to motivating fleet operators to transition to cleaner, more fuel-efficient technologies.

Funding is currently being provided that covers up to 80% of the cost of converting old diesel fleets to new clean vehicles that meet 2010 EPA emissions standards. These include the vehicles that collect your trash and the big brown trucks that tote your packages.

And there are a lot of them!

There are 136,000 garbage trucks in operation in the U.S. We also have about 500,000 buses and over 465,000 delivery trucks running on our nation’s streets and highways.

And this doesn’t even take into account the bustling international markets outside of the U.S.

Combined, you’re looking at a hell of a lot of miles. And a hell of a lot of opportunities for hybrid technology, biofuel and compressed natural gas companies.

Which will undoubtedly mean massive profits for Green Chip investors.

Nick Hodge