The recent decline in gasoline consumption is my first example that there is hope.
Every 10% reduction in car weight results in a 6% to 8% decrease in gasoline consumption.
Gasoline consumption could be negatively impacted by economic turbulence, such as a dip in employment.
In 2007 annual gasoline consumption was about 140 billion gallons per year, with forecasts of rising demand.
Driving within the speed limit and avoiding jack rabbit starts after red lights also help improve gasoline consumption.
For the record, here in bike-riding, Prius-loving, 47-square-mile San Francisco, per person gasoline consumption is 57 gallons a year.
It would cut down on millions of gallons of gasoline consumption and millions of tons of the emissions that environmentalists care about.
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So that is a 28% reduction in gasoline consumption with a supply of ethanol equalling only 5% of the total fuel supply.
Again if the goal is to reduce gasoline consumption then the economics of diesel make more sense than the economics of alcohol.
Latest monthly figures on gasoline consumption show a decline of 1 percent.
U.S. gasoline consumption so far this year is down over last year.
But when the environmental groups used the 2010 data from the federal government to calculate per person gasoline consumption, a different picture emerges.
An aging refinery infrastructure, increased domestic gasoline consumption, unexpected distribution disruptions and dwindling oil and gasoline reserves have pushed the U.S. to the edge.
So the fuel consumption reduction with the EDIE with 10% of the fuel supply coming form ethanol would yield a gasoline consumption reduction of 33%.
That breaks down to 2.5 million bpd of ethanol blended with 0.4 million bpd of gasoline (which would be an 82% reduction in gasoline consumption).
U.S. consumers have already shown to be sensitive to higher prices with total motor gasoline consumption down more than 2 percent on a year-over-year basis during the second quarter.
We want to reduce our gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years, which will not only help our national security, it will make us better stewards of the environment.
For example, data on miles traveled, gasoline consumption, driving habits, and maintenance history can help improve fuel efficiency and save families and businesses money at the pump while reducing harmful air pollution.
President Bush, in his State of the Union address this year, announced an initiative to cut U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years through a combination of alternative fuels and more efficient automobiles.
On the verge of a four day rally, oil futures have gained on the prospects of an OPEC-IEA stand-off, falling stockpiles in the U.S. ahead of peak gasoline consumption given the Fourth of July holiday, and the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, Tropical Storm Arlene, hitting the coast of Mexico.
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While such a breakthrough may come eventually, a tax on gasoline that reduces consumption is a far more dependable way to reduce transportation externalities.
In fact, millions of Americans already drive vehicles such as the Ford Taurus, the Dodge Caravan and the Chevrolet Silverado truck that can use alcohol fuels (ethanol or methanol) to reduce dramatically, if not eliminate, their consumption of gasoline.
While windmills cannot power cars directly, motor gasoline accounts for less than half of the consumption of petroleum products in America, so if wind reduces only non-vehicular use of petroleum it will still reduce reliance on petroleum products from the Middle East.
It has a lot to do with the manner in which gasoline-powered cars and trucks are evaluated for their energy consumption.
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Airlines find themselves in a difficult situation, having to juggle high gasoline prices with low pricing power given the weak state of consumption in a fragile economic environment.
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Officially, the money you spend on gasoline idling in a traffic jam on the way to work is consumption.
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