New CAFE regulations could cut oil imports by 1.4 million barrels per day
This is no brainer: the new CAFE standards can save the U.S. a lot of oil. How much? That's a more difficult question to answer. Suistanable Business took the calculator out and came up with an impressive result: 1.4 million barrels of oil per day by 2020. Just for sake of comparison, that's about everything that gets imported from Saudi Arabia.
The benefits of reducing fuel consumptions don't stop there. CO2 emissions can be reduced by 230 million tons (metric) - the equivalent of taking out 34 million cars from our roads. Translated into money, this equals savings of $30 billion for citizens if gas prices are $2.25/gal. If gas goes to $4 a gallon, the new standards will save $70 billion.
[Source: Sustainable Business Image: Getty]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3PeaceSweet 5:41PM (5/26/2009)
Reducing demand for oil will also help keep the price down and moderate some of the cash flow to fundamental islamic or worse socialist governments who profit from high oil prices.
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polo 12:28PM (5/27/2009)
Not sure what you just said or what your point is, other than you apparently have a problem with socialists (most of Europe) and muslims. Sounds ignorant either way.
3PeaceSweet 7:14PM (5/26/2009)
It was meant as a sarcastic comment to the fox news fans, no offence intended. Infact as a UK resident I pay around $5 a gallon when I fill up, but driving a 50 mpg diesel means it costs me about the same as someone who gets 25mpg but pays half as much for petrol.
50mpg = 20 gallons -> 1,000 miles @ $5 a gallon = $100
25mpg = 40 gallons -> 1,000 miles @ $2.50 a gallon = $100
But if the price of oil doubles. (Assuming $2.50 a gallon tax)
50mpg = 20 gallons -> 1,000 miles @ $7.50 a gallon = $150
25mpg = 40 gallons -> 1,000 miles @ $5 a gallon = $200
The high tax has moderated the price increase to the consumer, and in an ideal world would be offset by a reduction in income tax on lower incomes where energy costs are a large slice of the spending.
The 1,000 mile figure is to reflect a 20 mile commute (each way) plus one 100 mile trip and two 50 mile trips in a month. If I could replace the first 10 miles of each of these trips with battery electric power, my oil based milage would drop to less than 600 miles saving 1/3 of my fuel use. If the all electric range was 20 miles, it would save around 3/4 of fuel use.
Oil production is maxed out, continuted declines outside of OPEC will drive the price back up and possibiliy above the high levels which crashed the global economy last year.
A sensible policy would be tax oil consumption as a means to moderating demand and use the money raised to develop alternative energy sources. Investments in energy efficiency in heating, lighting and equipment can save enough electricity to power millions of plug in cars with new renewable and nuclear power plants displacing the oldest and dirtiest coal plants.
Noz 6:48PM (5/26/2009)
Too little too late...we (i.e. the world...not just the US) should have done this decades ago.
@3PEACE:
Lest you forget who went to the middle east and set up their precious companies over there, and sold arms to both sides when convenient, and egged on conflicts, and created coos through the CIA, toppled governments and put it's own puppet regimes in....
So who's going to stop the funneling of money to the US and when? Probably it'd be a good day if that happened.
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Matt 9:02PM (5/26/2009)
TO the US? Boy are you misinformed... Part of the reason the US in in the mess that it's in is because our money was being siphoned OUT! Chevron, Shell, etc. Those guys don't bring money into the US, they have all relocated to Dubai so they can pay lower taxes. If you buy gas in the EU, your money goes to the same place, the middle east. The only money that stays here is the money spent on refining the oil and on Ethanol.
Noz 6:00PM (6/19/2009)
No I'm not misinformed. If American companies and corporations cared so much, they'd not have been doing business with others overseas that they once stabbed in the back to make their presence in those regions permanent...as we have now.
It's easy to blame people outside of the US and not look at yourselves what for what you yourselves do.
Jon 7:31PM (5/26/2009)
Let's not forget that this is the minimum requirement for cars in 2020. The 2010 Prius gets 49 mpg and the Insight gets around 63 mpg. So these cars are already well above the 2020 minimum, a decade before it will come into place.
So we may well reach the 1.4 million barrel point before 2020.
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meme 12:32AM (5/27/2009)
Will people *please* stop comparing numbers from a given drivecycle to anecdotal numbers or numbers from other drivecycles? The MPG for the Insight is *not* 63mpg; it's 40 city, 43 highway, 41 combined.
sydbot 10:37PM (5/26/2009)
Hah, that's if we are still allowed to drill in the states. How about we do this while expanding domestic oil production to completely close off the gap?
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Keith 12:26AM (5/27/2009)
Your photo shows a gas flare at an oil field. That stuff burns, why is it always wasted by flaring, adding to global warming, pollution etc. Why not collect it and at least run an electric generator with it. Isn't it time the govt. passed a law preventing flaring, forcing oil companies to make use of it.
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MikeInNC 8:45AM (5/27/2009)
People, take time to investigate. There is a major difference between EPA/MPG and Cafe numbers. The Cafe change we just got uses the old measurement so most cars show a higher than actual MPG thus, the lofty goals just set aren't really that lofty after all. Typical political symbolism lacking teeth.
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