ABSTRACT

Discussion of strategies to reduce U.S. oil dependence has centered, appropriately, on improving the fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks. Other opportunities exist to save oil through energy efficiency, however, and these are examined in the following report. We present the breakdown of petroleum use in the U.S. by sector and discuss technologies and practices available to improve the efficiency of the major oil-consuming subsectors. These include freight trucks, industrial equipment and processes, and residential and commercial buildings. After estimating the potential to reduce petroleum consumption cost-effectively through a range of measures, we discuss barriers to efficiency in each sector and policies to overcome those barriers. We then define three efficiency policy scenarios, Modest, Moderate and Aggressive, to take advantage of the opportunities identified, and estimate the total oil savings that would follow from the implementation of each scenario. While achieving ambitious oil savings targets will certainly require major progress on car and light truck fuel economy, this report demonstrates the substantial contribution offered by energy efficiency improvements to other vehicles and in the industrial and building sectors.

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45 pp., January 2006, $20.00, E061