The
U.S. consumes a little more than 20 million
barrels of oil a day. The largest end
uses are motor gasoline (9 million barrels)
and diesel (4 million barrels).
That works out to about 140 billion gallons
of gasoline and 60 billion gallons of
diesel a year.
In 2006, the U.S. consumed nearly 5.4
billion gallons of ethanol, 12 percent
of which was imported.
Adjusting for its lower energy content,
that amounted to about 2.5% of the total
U.S. demand for gasoline.
Biodiesel consumption was much lower,
about 250 million gallons in 2006.
In the Energy Policy
Act of 2005, Congress enacted the Renewable
Fuels Standard, which requires an annual
increase in biofuels use to 7.5 billion
gallons by 2012.
The chart above details past levels of
U.S. ethanol production and the minimum
levels set by the Renewable Fuels Standard.
In the 2006 State of the Union address,
President Bush announced a goal of replacing
“more than 75% of our oil imports
from the Middle East by 2025.” According
to the Department of Energy, meeting that
goal will require 60 billion gallons of
biofuels a year.
A year later, the President accelerated
the timetable and called for “20
in 10.”