RE: E-M:/ Bush energy policy?

[Rane L Curl <ranecurl@umich.edu>]

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Enviro-Mich message from Rane L Curl <ranecurl@umich.edu>
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On Mon, 23 Jun 2008, James Lang wrote:

> Curl:  Serious doubts?  Are you suggesting that Brazil's achievements 
> (reportedly 70 per cent independent of foreign oil, mostly through 
> ethanol; to a lesser extent, domestic oil production), for example, are 
> illusory?  If we manage to substitute energy alternatives at the rate of 
> two to five per cent per year, we succeed.

Brazil is a large country with a population about 2/3 of that of the US. 
However their oil production and consumption is only about 2.2 million 
barrels per day, about 10% of ours. Their ethanol production in terms of 
oil equivalent energy is about 10% of their oil production and 
consumption. So comparing the US and Brazil on a per-capita basis:

                       US           Brazil

Oil consumption       0.068         0.012    bbls per capita per day

The "70 per cent independent of foreign oil" in Brazil is only due to the 
fact that they only import a small fraction of foreign oil (and only 
recently - see http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/Brazil/Oil.html).

If we reduced our per-capita oil consumption by a factor of 5 we would not 
be in the predicament we are today, and biofuels might play a significant 
role. They don't, and can't, with our population and current energy 
demand.

--Rane L Curl


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