Environmental Cost of U.S. Energy Independence
Environmental Impact of Independence from Foreign Oil
Oct 15, 2008
While renewable sources of energy, such as wind, hydro and solar energy, can help curtail the demand for foreign energy they cannot supply the needs of the transport sector. Outside of biofuels, traditional domestic sources of energy which can be used as a fuel for automobiles pose great environmental threats.
Cause of Foreign Oil Imports
According to the US EPA's Annual Energy Outlook 2008 the United States consumed 20 million barrels of oil per day (Mbd) while net imports of oil were 12 Mbd. Energy: Selected Facts and Numbers, by Carol Glover et al, published in August 2008 by the Congressional Research Service, in its “Petroleum and Transportation" figures shows that the US transport sector uses 14.3 Mbd. These figures show that the transport sector of the United States is responsible for more than all its oil imports.
Increase in Offshore Drilling
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in their Blueprint for Securing America’s Energy Future, published in Sept. 2008 says “The President and Congress should increase domestic energy supply by permanently ending the moratorium on exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the Outer Continental Shelf.” Walter D. Cruickshank of the Department of the Interior in a statement to the House Committee on Natural Resources on June 28, 2007 stated “we estimate (at the mean level) that the OCS contains 86 billion barrels of oil (as oil and natural gas liquids/condensate) and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.” The Sierra Club, on the “Protect Our Coasts” section of their website, states that a moratorium was put on oil drilling in the OCS in 1981 in order to protect the environment of the coastal areas.
Use of Coal to Liquid Technology
The Monthly Energy Review (MER) published by the Energy Information Administration in September 2008, states that the USA has over 500 billion tons of coal reserves. Coal to liquid technology (CTL) could be used to turn coal into a liquid fuel suitable for autos. On page 80 of the Annual Energy Outlook 2008, it is estimated that CTL could provide up to 1.2 million barrels of oil per day by 2030. The Natural Resources Defense Council in their Feb 2007 publication “Why Liquid Coal Is Not a Viable Option to Move America Beyond Oil” states “The total well-to-wheels emission rate for conventional petroleum-derived fuel is about 27 pounds of CO2 per gallon of fuel” while “the total well to-wheels CO2 emissions from coal-derived fuel would be about 50 pounds of CO2 per gallon - nearly twice as high.”
Increased Use of Shale Oil
Shale Oil is another source of energy that could be processed to run automobiles. According to the Department of Energy’s fact sheet “U.S. Oil Shale Resources” the United States has recoverable oil shale of 1.8 trillion barrels. Unfortunately mining of shale oil has extreme detrimental environmental effects. A paper published by Stanford University, titled “Oil Shale and the Environmental Cost of Production”, by Elliot Grunewald on June 6th 2006 states that the “Environmental impact of an oil shale industry would be the immediate displacement of ecosystems in land under development. Surface retorting, which requires underground or surface mining would strongly alter the local ecology and current land uses. Strip mining would require some of the largest open-pit mines in the world.”
Striving for American energy independence using traditional energy sources such as drilling for oil, gas or coal will have large environmental impacts. Biofuels such as ethanol or biodiesel are more eco-friendly but could still cause environmental problems.
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