Thomko Petro Chemical Blog

The future of U.S. national security, the economy and the environment will be determined by how much oil we use.

A cut-off of oil, even a brief one, sends huge shocks through our economy and the overall international trade system.

So, where do we start?

The transportation sector makes approximately 66 % of U.S. petroleum consumption, but that figure could drop if Congress bumps up gas mileage standards, along with using financial incentives to motivate production of autos that don't run completely on petroleum.

Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and DaimlerChrysler all say they continue to pursue production and research for alternative vehicles, including fuel cell technology using hydrogen, and developing cleaner internal combustion autos for both regular and diesel gasoline.  

"It will take customer demand, however it comes about," said Nicholas Cappa, manager of advanced technology communications for DaimlerChrysler AG, echoing the mantra of Detroit's auto industry. "Right now there's nothing that can touch gasoline. It's the most inexpensive way to go from point A to point B."

And none of the Detroit three believes oil will ever be out of the equation.

We need cars that use less gas, alternatives to gas and alternatives to cars.

There are 22 alternative fuel or advanced technology vehicles on the U.S. market in 2006, such as flexible-fuel vehicles that that run on 85 percent ethanol, referred to as E85, or hybrid-electric; 15 are produced by the Detroit three, who said they have a combined 4.7 million FFVs on the road now.  

But when a customer's tank is empty, there aren't many options.

Of the estimated 170,000 service stations around the United States, 650 sell E85 and 60 of those are for government vehicles only, according to the Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center.

Joanna Schroeder, communications director for Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, envisions that within the next few years, cellulosic processing plants will be attached to traditional ethanol plants, linking the two methods to one goal: filling the limited but growing E85 need.

"If we don't support the service stations that offer ethanol, we're not going to be able to affect oil dependency," she said, calling for consumers to shop at stations that sell ethanol and personally asking for the fuel at the gas station counter.

Other alternative fuels, such as natural gas, biodiesel and hydrogen, are offered even less. Corn is the largest and only commercially viable ethanol feedstock. Cellulosic materials, from anything like switch grass weeds to soft woods to animal manure, would be a far more efficient source when the technology and infrastructure capability is set up.  

Brendan Bell, clean vehicles spokesman for the Sierra Club, said corn-based ethanol isn't "this silver bullet solution to our oil dependence."

He said it takes a lot of natural resources to power the corn-processing ethanol plant, limiting the environmental impact of switching to ethanol.

Another worry is as demand for food products for energy purposes climb, so will prices for food at the grocery store. He said cellulosic-based feedstocks would be better for the environment.

Bell said increasing fuel economy standards, by an average 40 miles per gallon within 10 years, the Sierra Club hopes would have a bigger impact sooner on oil dependence.