What We Do
Energy Independence, the Environment and International Politics
Clean advanced energy technologies fueled with domestic resources have the potential to reduce significantly U.S. reliance on imported oil and natural gas.
Since 1945, petroleum imports to the United States have increased almost 2,000 percent, from 645,000 barrels annually to 13,527,000 in 2005. During the same period, electricity consumption has risen more than 1,200 percent, from 296,000,000,000 (296 billion) kilowatt-hours per year to 4,038,000,000,000 (4 trillion, 38 billion).
Petroleum imports are the biggest single contributor to the U.S. trade deficit - $136 billion in 2004. Natural gas imports added another $22 billion to the deficit. As the U.S. imports about 60 percent of the crude oil it uses every day, the worldwide competition for limited supplies increases. The demand for petroleum is rising particularly sharply in China and India, which also are rapidly industrializing.
In recent decades, building new facilities to make gasoline and other petroleum products has encountered various barriers. As a result, the U.S. has increased its dependence on foreign energy and its reliance on aging and less efficient plants. Imports now account for 11 percent of the gasoline our country uses - up 100 percent in the past decade. Natural gas imports continue to rise. Newer plants could produce these products more efficiently - and with fewer environmental impacts.
The U.S. has the technology and the resources to cap oil imports at current levels and, over time, reduce them. With a national commitment, a reduction in imports is achievable.
Integrated Coal Gasification Combined Cycle plants, supplemented by wind energy and solar power, can meet the country’s future needs for base-load electricity. Nuclear technology also has a role to play. Synthetic gas from coal can eliminate the need to use natural gas and oil in future peaking plants. Through gasification, coal can replace oil and natural gas as the raw material for a broad range of industrial and consumer products – from gasoline and diesel fuel to fertilizers and plastics.
Conservation and improved efficiency also can contribute to reduced imports in many ways. In fact, with conservation and new energy facilities and technologies, the U.S. can meet the increased demand for products and for a cleaner environment. Our country’s goals for energy independence and a clean environment can be met by the advances in clean coal technologies and other clean energy technologies, leading to greater security for the United States in this day of uncertain world economics and politics.