CAR GAS EFFICIENCY IN THE NEXT 10 YRS COULD SAVE 2.7 BILLION BARRELS OF OIL PER DAY, MORE THAN THE GULF OF MEXICO PRODUCES

The deepwater Horizon oil rig operated by British Petroleum that caught on fire and caused the world's worst oil spill and environmental catastrophe

Doubling the efficiency of current light-duty vehicles could save two million barrels of day within a decade, compared to the 1.6 million barrels per day that have come from the decades of developing offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

The data comes from the U.S. Department of Energy report, First Quadrennial Technology Review (PDF). The report, which will be updated every four years, splits energy into two separate buckets: transportation and electricity.

The report notes that there is about 6 percent turnover rate in light-duty vehicles every year, and if each old car were replaced by something twice as efficient, fuel consumption would drop by 3 percent per year. Over 10 years, that would be 30 percent, or 2.7 million barrels per day.

Although President Obama is currently being attacked for clean energy loans after the Solyndra mess and he has backed away from tougher air quality standards, the one area he has been bullish on is fuel economy standards.

There have been technological improvements in efficiency in the past decades, but these advancements have often gone to performance improvements, rather than how much fuel the car uses.

For the first time in a quarter century, CAFE standards were increased for light-duty vehicles, from 27.5 mpg in 2010 to 39 mpg in 2016. By 2025, cars will have to get 54.5 miles per gallon. Hybrids currently only make up about three percent of light-duty stock on the road, but sales of hybrids are growing.

A change in fuel economy labels on showroom floors will also show people differences in fuel costs over the lifetime of a vehicle between standard cars, hybrids, and electric vehicles. The administration also introduced the first MPG standards  ever for medium and heavy-duty vehicles earlier this year.

Along with government regulation, Consumer Reports noted that people are shopping for efficiency first. Sales of SUVs have lagged as the recession wears on, but gas prices continue to stay relatively high.

A Consumer Reports survey found that 73 percent of nearly 1,800 adult car owners are considering an alternative power train vehicle, according to Jim Guest, the President and CEO of Consumers Union, which produces Consumer Reports. Two-thirds of those respondents also said they planned on buying something with better fuel economy than their current car and 60 percent also said they’d be willing to pay more.

While fuel efficiency regulations and changing consumer ideals could help wean the U.S. off foreign oil and environmentally costly domestic oil, the other half of the efficiency puzzle -- electricity efficiency in buildings -- is a murkier prospect for the DOE to tackle. Check back in four years for signs of progress.

COMMENTARY:   In a blog post dated July 29, 2011, I wrote about President Obama's no CAFE MPG standards.   It's a pity that didn't raise CAFE standards to 54.5 mpg years ago.  We have the technology to generate those kinds of savings now, but the automobile and gas and oil lobbyists are making sure that they are kept low because this reduces their R&D costs.  The oil industry in particular has a lot to lose if less oil is produced.  In the above blog post I provided ten ways to dramatically improve gas mileage or eliminate gas consumption altogether.  

Courtesy of an article dated September 29, 2011 appearing in GreenTechMedia

 

Comments

[A.T. McCoy]

Emissions and the depletion of oil are serious issue we're going to have to deal with for the next century or so. Cleaner cars such as hybrids and EV's are step in the right direction.

[Car Dealers Minneapolis]

What about diesel? That is also another alternative; never really understood why diesel powered cars never took off in the States.

[Bloomington Used Cars]

Car prices may increase as a result of CAFE. The cost of the development of these efficient cars will most likely passed on to consumers.

[Crystal Clear Headlights]

We must all be concerned about this. There has already been too much wasted.

[Enterprise Used Cars]

One concern is that auto makers will produce much lighter cars in order to meet the CAFE regulations. Lighter cars are great for mpg but not so great in case of an accident.

[Stelle Courney]

Fuel scarcity is a setback for most parts of the globe. However, it's nice that people are developing ways to solve this problem. There will come a day when people would not have to deal with this anymore.

[Wheel Balancing Weights]

If you're not sure what grade of fuel works best for your car, open up your owner's manual and take a look. As long as your engine doesn't knock or ping when you fuel up with regular unleaded, you're good to drive on this much cheaper gas.