Thursday, June 28, 2007

The Oil Equation -
Something to Think About

I heard a reporter from The Economist lay out pretty succinctly the big challenge the US faces re: oil/energy independence. Full interview can be found in the Jan 24, 2007 episode of the NPR Technology podcast. But, if I recall correctly, here is the reality of it:

Consumption:
The US consumes 25% of the world's oil and 50% of the world's gasoline.

Resources:
The US sits on 3% of the world's known oil reserves.

That kind of sums it up right there. If we don't wish to be reliant upon foreign oil sources, we have a lot of work to do and we need to seriously modify our behavior as a nation. I won't be holding my breath. It's far too important for people to be seen driving their 4mpg SUVs on the 3 mile round trip to the grocery store.

Originally posted2/1/07

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