How Much Oil Can We Save? A Survey of Recent Policy Assessments

This fact sheet describes the results of ACEEE's recent survey of estimates of oil savings potential and bills that address petroleum energy efficiency.

These estimates included work by:

• major environmental groups — Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Pew Center for Global Climate Change’s study on GHG reductions from transportation, and Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), both the Blueprint 2030 report and the “National Oil Savings Plan” fact sheet;
• energy security groups — Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE);
• energy policy groups — Resources for the Future/National Energy Policy Institute (RFF/NEPI) and Center for American Progress (CAP);
• federal agencies — Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT);
• the National Petroleum Council  (NPC) and National Academy of Sciences (NAS);
• lawmakers, including Senators Merkley and Lugar; and
• energy efficiency groups — ACEEE, in a 2006 study, and an RMI study.

The estimates of 2030 petroleum use range from the most ambitious — the Merkley Plan (2010), with oil use at 13.1 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2030 — to the Lugar Plan (2010), with oil use at 17.5 mbd in 2030. These estimates demonstrate that a range of policy and program measures are available for energy savings in oil use.