US energy independence relates to the goal of reducing US petroleum imports and other foreign energy sources. Energy independence is supported by those wishing to leave the United States unaffected by the disruption of global energy supplies, and to limit its reliance on politically unstable countries for its energy security. Energy independence is closely linked to oil, the main source of fuel for state transportation.
In total energy consumption, the US is between 86% and 91% self-sufficient in 2016. In May 2011, the country became a net exporter of pure oil products. In 2014, the United States is the world's third largest crude producer, after Saudi Arabia and Russia. and the second largest exporter of refined products, after Russia.
As of March 2015, 85% of crude oil imports came (in ever-diminishing volume): Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia. 19% of imported oil comes from the Middle East. The fraction of crude oil consumed in the US imported came from 35% immediately before the 1973 oil crisis, peaking at 60% in 2005, and then again to 35% by 2013 thanks to an increase in domestic production from shale oil explosions. Crude oil exports have been illegally licensed since the 1970s; in 2013, the United States physically exported relatively small amounts of oil, and only to Canada.
Larger energy independence, it claims, will prevent major supply disruptions such as the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis from recurring. Advocates argue that the potential for political unrest in major oil suppliers, such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Nigeria), is abundant, and often causes major fluctuations in crude oil prices (especially in the short term).
Large US individual pipelines and other fuel infrastructure and extraction projects are a controversial issue in US politics.
Video United States energy independence
Tren historis
At the beginning of the 20th century the United States became the world's major oil supplier. World War II encouraged the Synthetic Liquid Fuel Program but did not go beyond research. By the middle of the century, the country shifted from being a major exporter to a net importer. The import quotas enacted in 1959 restricted imports to a fraction of domestic production until 1973. After the 1973 oil crisis, the US Department of Energy and Synthetic Fuel Corporation established the United States to address the problem of fuel import dependence.
US dependence on foreign oil increased from 26 percent to 47 percent between 1985 and 1989. According to Washington & Jefferson College Energy Index, in 2012, America's energy independence has declined by 22% since the Presidency of Harry Truman. US foreign oil imports fell to 36 percent in 2013, down from a 60 percent high in 2006.
Many advocates of energy independence look to unexplored domestic oil reserves, both known and potential. Those who support increased domestic oil production often advise removing many restrictions on oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (see Drilling Arctic Drilling controversy) and outer continental shelf. Foreign dependence is not the only factor in North American energy politics, however; environmental issues surrounding soil and water pollution and greenhouse gases are also issues of controversy.
Maps United States energy independence
Approach
Some advocates of US energy independence promote the wider use of alternatives such as ethanol fuel, methanol, biodiesel, plug-in hybrids, and other alternative drivers. A 2013 report published by the Fuel Freedom Foundation says that without a shift to domestic raw materials for fuels, such as natural gas and biomass, the US will not be able to achieve energy independence. In 2014, the United States imposes an import tariff of 54 cents per gallon on ethanol fuel (no import tariff for oil or methanol fuel). Brazil's ethanol fuel is produced from sugarcane, which produces more fuel per acre than corn used for ethanol production in the United States.
In the United States, oil is mainly consumed as fuel for cars, buses, trucks and planes (in the form of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel). Two thirds of US oil consumption is due to the transport sector. A national strategy designed to divert all transport to the combined use of alternative fuels and plug-in hybrids is expected to make the US independent of oil (oil).
If alternative fuel is desirable at any cost, then the US can also make synthetic fuel from its coal reserves. Methanol, synthetic diesel and gasoline made from US coal can replace petroleum-derived fuels for a hundred years, long enough to develop sustainable domestic renewable fuels such as cellulosic ethanol or methanol.
North American energy independence
Oil imports are most problematic in domestic politics and energy security when they come from countries openly hostile to US foreign policy and interests (Iran, Venezuela, and formerly Iraq), are former or future competitors (Russia) or have rights questionable human rights. practice (Saudi Arabia). Sometimes North American energy independence alternatives are proposed, where North America as a unit must be energy independent, but where the US can still import energy from Canada and Mexico, which is a less problematic and more integrated alliance. economy.
The related policy, less absolute, can be called North American energy security . In 2012 in an editorial for Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail The Mexican president chose Enrique Peeble Nieto, calling North America's energy security a "common goal" of Canada and Mexico.
Its benefits are said to be similar to US energy independence - reducing North American energy dependence on unstable regions such as the Middle East and South America and receiving supplies from a reliable North American Free Trade Area, reducing exposure to terrorism abroad; Lower trade and foreign exchange accounts emphasize the US economy in an era when suppliers began to raise oil prices in euros; development of renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels; and promotion of energy conservation technologies that can be exported to energy-poor countries.
Program to limit US energy interests by Canada and Mexico
In Canada and Mexico there are also concerns about not having an energy policy dictated by the United States, as well as tensions over US energy company ownership.
In 1937 Mexico passed a constitutional amendment to nationalize its oil industry, leading to the creation of Pemex, a national oil company. There have been proposals to privatize Pemex since then, but they never succeeded because many Mexicans fear foreign control of this strategic industry.
The 1957 Canadian elections were conducted partially in response to the 1956 Pipeline Debate over whether the government should allow US-owned companies to build Canadian gas pipelines and whether they should be fully in Canada or partly through the UK. Union. The right-wing Conservative Progressive and opposition left-wing Commonwealth Union opposition party opposed American involvement in the pipeline while the Liberal government supported it. The Liberals were defeated in the 1957 election.
In 1973, Canada created its own state energy company, Petro-Canada. It started operations in 1976, although it bought assets from private companies rather than capture them as in many other countries. In 1980 the National Energy Program was launched to create oil independence in Canada. He tried to use tax incentives to prevent oil exports (mostly from Western Canada, especially the province of Alberta) to the US, and diverted it to the province of East Canada's oil importer. The Foreign Investment Review Board was also created to filter the takeover of foreign Canadian companies (mostly US). These policies were strongly opposed by the provincial government of Alberta, and were repealed and reversed during the Conservative governments of 1984-1993 seeking closer economic ties to the United States, including the 1988 Canadian Free Trade Agreement.
Debate
In a 2012 poll of energy experts by the Foreign Policy magazine, nearly two-thirds of respondents said energy independence is not a sensible goal.
Highlighting the difficulty of separating domestic and foreign oil sources, journalist Robert Bryce stated in 2008 that "the trend of energy interdependence is growing and non-negotiable" and branded the idea of ​​being able to choose where your oil came from as "nonsense".
The structure of the critical argument is structured as follows:
- Energy independence will not reduce US involvement in the Middle East.
- Interest in the Persian Gulf, including the protection of energy security worldwide underlying global economic dependence, will remain a US priority.
- Terrorism will not decline in the Middle East if the US stops buying oil, because terrorism is not funded by oil money.
- Although large oil supplies are found in unstable regions subject to difficult geopolitics, these geopolitics will continue to be driven by other oil consumers, such as China, whether or not the US has achieved energy independence. US energy independence will not cause the US withdrawal from the Middle East, it will not reduce terrorism, and it will not encourage stability or reform in the region.
- Renewable energy sources can be very inefficient, as in the case of corn-based biofuels, which require massive government subsidies as well as large amounts of water and chemicals to grow, and cause significant air pollution when burned. Other renewable energies, wind and solar power, are expensive and intermittent, and lack the infrastructure and technology needed to properly store the energy they get from the environment:
- Natural gas is not a viable part of US energy in 2008, as we may have reached domestic reserves: US natural gas imports from Canada have tripled since 1973.
- However, gross US gas production nature sets a record all-time high every year from 2007 to 2013, in part because of new methods to extract Shale gas. Despite the withdrawal of records, the volume of proven US reserves still on the ground also stood at an all-time high, according to reserve data for the end of 2011. US natural gas net imports peaked in 2007, then declined rapidly, and by 2013 60 percent below 2007.
- In the absence of a breeder reactor or fusion reactor, a nuclear power plant is not a solution to energy independence, since uranium must be imported: currently, 80% of US uranium is imported, mainly from Russia and Canada.
- Although the US enjoys enormous coal reserves that can power our country at current levels of energy consumption for 200 years, the hope that the country can use these resources as fuel for our transportation sector fuel is not possible. Although currently the US remains a major exporter of low quality coal coal, and, in 2008, increased coal portion is being imported because of the cheaper, high-quality, low-sulfur foreign coal needed by power plants that handle air quality regulations.
- However, from 2007 to 2011, US coal imports fell 64%, and coal exports increased by 81%. In 2011, US coal exports were eight times that of imports, and the US is the world's fourth largest coal exporter.
- US. unreliable oil reserves: US oil production in 2008 has been steadily declining since 1970.
- Since then, US oil production has risen rapidly during 2009-2013; US crude oil production for 2013 was 49% higher than in 2008.
- Electrical and energy-efficient appliances require rare earth elements mostly from Inner Mongolia, and lithium, mostly from Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia.
- Natural gas is not a viable part of US energy in 2008, as we may have reached domestic reserves: US natural gas imports from Canada have tripled since 1973.
Benefits of oil dependency
Roger Howard argued in the Wall Street Journal that oil dependence has significant benefits for the US and other oil importing countries. First, the world's major oil exporters are heavily dependent on their oil revenues, and fear the rapid decline in oil prices, as happened in late 2008 and 2014/2015. Second, this fear restricts destructive actions by exporters: Howard cites the example of the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia. The Russian stock market fell, and "within a week the outflow of capital outflows reached $ 16 billion, suddenly squeezing domestic credit while rubles collapsed in value." He also gave an example from Libya, where Muammar al-Gaddafi surrendered his Pakistani nuclear weapons in return for the US to lift economic sanctions, which have prevented Libya from increasing its oil output.
In his speech at the State of the Union 2006, George W. Bush used the phrase oil addiction , a phrase widely spoken in the media.
Energy security and AERS
Andy Grove argues that energy independence is a wrong goal and can not be functioned, especially in an integrated global exchange network. He suggested that the goal should be energy security: resilience in line with adaptability, and it is also reflected in important market ideas such as substitutions. Toughness is one of the best features of the market process; the price transmission information function means that individual buyers and sellers can adapt to changes in supply and demand conditions in a decentralized way. His advice for how to improve the resilience of the US energy economy is to divert use from petroleum to electricity (electrification), which can be produced using a variety of energy sources, including renewable energy.
In 2008 former vice president Al Gore challenged the United States to commit to producing all electricity from renewable sources (AERS) such as solar and wind power in 10 years. Both the Resource Center and current President Barack Obama openly declare they support AERS Al Gore's aims.
Canada is the world's second largest hydroelectric producer (after China) and exports three billion dollars worth of electricity to the US by 2015, mostly from large hydropower provinces such as Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia.
Obama Administration
US President Barack Obama has repeatedly stated that the US has begun "freeing itself from foreign oil" including during its election speech of 2012. Canadian observers have noted that its use "foreign" does not include Canada. But in November 2015, US President Barack Obama rejected a proposal to build the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf coast due to domestic environmental concerns over water quality as well as the general antipathy of the environmental movement for pipeline construction, and the practice of production at its source (Athabasca Oil Sands).
See also
- Advanced Energy Initiative
- Autarky
- Carter Doctrine, which states that the United States will use military force, if necessary, to defend its national interests in the Persian Gulf
- Clean up energy
- Electric car
- Energy security
- Ethanol fuel in the United States
- Peak oil
- Pickens Plan
- Renewable energy
- Securing America's Energy Independence Act 2007
- Solar power
- Continuous energy
- Wind technology
- Zero emission
References
External links
- US. Becoming the World's Top Petroleum Producer in 5 Years, Reports Say 12 November 2012
- Herberg, Mikkal (2014). Energy Security and Asia-Pacific: Course Reader . United States: Asian National Research Bureau.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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