How Will America Survive Without Foreign Oil? Ideas for Today and Tomorrow

America is the World’s Largest Consumer of Energy America has approximately 5% of the world’s population We consume approximately 30% of the world’s energy Americans consume more than twice the energy of citizens of industrialized nations

More than 50% of the oil consumed in America is foreign Key suppliers include: Mexico Canada Venezuela Saudi Arabia This dependency costs money

What Would We Do If This Foreign Oil Was Disrupted? IS THERE A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE?

EFFICICIENCY IS THE ANSWER

3 Main Sectors of consumption

TRANSPORTATION

Most Petroleum is Used for Transportation

Today’s Situation We use 19.5 million barrels of oil a day for transportation On 2001, more than 10% of our Gross Domestic Product was spent on transportation Emissions from automobiles emit 22% of America’s greenhouse gases a year

How is transportation inefficient Vehicles can be much more fuel efficient Lighter materials Better engine design Fuel additives Hybrid Vehicles Savings add up Money saved each year on fuel Money saved on related costs

Short-term Goals and Caveat 1) Increase the use of additives 2) Increase minimum MPG on automobiles Do both of the above without affecting vehicle prices

Long-Term Strategy 1) 55 MPG vehicles within 20 years 2) 50% ethanol fuel within 20 years Caveat – Keep cars safe and powerful

How Did We Get Here? Waste No carpooling Bigger cars Thriving Economy Cheap gas More powerful cars

Americans Love Our Cars It’s a big country We’re used to the convenience The use of private vehicles for transportation is going to stay

We are on the move Americans traveled nearly 5 trillion miles in 1999

Vehicle use is on the rise

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT?

Americans will not kick the car habit in the near future This means the only short-term solution is to: Demand more efficient vehicles Use renewable fuel additives such as ethanol

Better mileage Fuel technology alone can increase economy to 40 miles per gallon

The Solution is Simple: Corn

Current ethanol production

Corn used for ethanol production

Ethanol is more efficient 100 BTUs of energy to produce 135 BTUs of ethanol 100 BTUs of energy to produce 85 BTUs of gasoline

Current vehicles can use it Every automobile manufactured for sale in the US is capable of running with an ethanol fuel additive Some diesel engines can even operate with mixtures containing as much as 85% ethanol

Why is it good? It’s made in America It’s renewable It costs about the same as gasoline It burns cleaner It prevents freezing gas lines We can grow as much as we need

More Efficient Vehicles Increasing fuel use to 55mpg will save 4 billion barrels of oil over the next 12 years By 2020, we can save 4.8 million barrels a day – more than we currently import from the Persian gulf

We already have the technology

The other main use of oil is for production of other forms of energy Heat Electricity Steam

More efficient homes = less oil needed to create this energy Better construction Solar power Geothermal heating and cooling Wind production Lighting

Insulation = savings Building “super insulated” homes use only about 20% of the energy to heat and cool The cost of construction is saved in less than 2 years

Where is it lost?

Simple solutions can equal big energy savings Weather stripping Double pane windows Foam core doors Attic fans Higher quality insulation Southern windows

Solar power for heat and electricity

Two types of solar Electricity production Heat production

Making your own electricity A midsize photovoltaic solar panel will: Cost approx $10,000 after incentives Produce 24% of the electricity used by the average household Eliminate 7600lbs of CO2 emissions in one year

The Sun can heat...and cool: Solar energy is easily converted to heat It can also be used in a system that cools

The steps of solar heating The sun heats water between layers of glass or other material The water is circulated throughout the home radiating its heat The cooled water is circulated back through the glass plates

Don’t forget the swimming pool

Wind in your home

Let the Earth heat and power your home

Other ways to “plug the leaks”

Combined Heat and Power

These systems are readily available “Normal” energy production is 20%-30% efficient. CHPS are approximately 80% efficient.

What does it mean?

Current Legislation There is a surprising amount of efficiency legislation either on the books or pending in Congress

Energy Interconnect Legislation Combined Heat and Power Advancement Act of 2001 Designed to promote the development of CHP systems by providing equal access to the power grid

H.R. 4 of 2001 Residential Energy Tax Credit Stuck in committee

S.828 Tax Credit for Energy Efficient Property Stuck in committee

S.804 Fuel Efficiency Bill Stuck in Committee

There are currently 12 energy efficiency related bills pending in the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Where Does That Leave Us?

Propose More Legislation

Tax Incentives

Slowly Regulate Old Technology Out of Existence

Fund More Research

We can afford it Energy savings will recoup investment costs Lower pollution will free up funds for other purposes Fewer environmental cleanup disasters

Efficiency is the Answer Now and Later