Beyond Oil Action: Oil facts

Fighting the Keystone XL pipeline has been a vital battle against the dirtiest source of oil, but to win the war we must cut demand for oil. Here's how.

World oil production has been relatively flat since 2005. Although the U.S. has been using less and producing more oil, with China and India importing more plus the rest of the world's demand and big old fields depleting there's reason to expect prices continue higher. (mbpd = million barrels per day)

Source: U.S. EIA production, imports, and world production and consumption data.

About half of U.S. oil is used for gasoline, another quarter for distillate (mostly diesel for trucks), and a smaller slice for jet fuel. That's why our focus is on cars and trucks.

Source: U.S. EPA data.

Ethanol from corn takes about as much fossil fuel energy to produce as it yields in energy – not to mention its use of water and fertilizer and land impacts – so it is no solution to oil use, and the reason I've deducted ethanol from motor gasoline in the chart above. Cellulosic ethanol from woody plants has been a hoped-for next step, but has not reached production scale. Future biofuels from algae are a possibility, but will have highest priority for applications like jet fuel.

Nationally over 3/4 of Americans drive alone to work, but some cities did much better. We seek more Healthy Communities where more can bike, walk, and ride transit, but with so much of the U.S. in auto-oriented suburbia, Electric Vehicles are a crucial second lever to reduce oil use.

Source: U.S. Census American Community Survey.

Here is a scenario of how the U.S. could cut oil use in half from 2005-2030. Its baseline already includes savings from the new federal MPG standards for cars and light trucks through 2025. In short, we drive less, drive electric, and/or drive highest MPG.

Source: U.S. EIA actual and Annual Energy Outlook data; Excel model.

Some other oil-saving scenarios: