US to cut Middle East oil imports by 75% - Bush
World’s energy consumer to switch to alternative energy sources
By Karen Remo-Listana
Posted: 02 February 2006
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President George W Bush called for slashing US oil imports from the Middle East by more than 75 per cent by 2025, in what he called a “great US goal”. This statement was accepted by the audience with an immediate applause.
 Bush said the US should reduce its reliance on foreign oil by using technology to develop alternative energy sources, such as ethanol-blended gasoline and hydrogen fuel cells to run pollution-free vehicles.
“ America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world. The best way to break this addiction is through technology,” he said in his annual State of the Union address.
“By applying the talent and technology of America, this country can dramatically improve our environment, move beyond a petroleum-based economy, and make our dependence on Middle Eastern oil a thing of the past.”
To this end, Bush gave a green light for the Advanced Energy Initiative, a 22-per cent increase in clean-energy research at the Department of Energy. This means Bush will put 22 per cent more money for clean energy research in his 2007 budget, which will be sent to Congress next week, for solar and wind energy, cleaner-burning coal, nuclear energy and hybrid vehicles that run on electricity or gasoline and can be recharged each night by plugging them into ordinary home outlets.
Bush said America’s addiction to oil is a serious problem and the “best way to break this addiction is through technology.”
He said since 2001, US had spent nearly $10 billion to develop cleaner, cheaper, and more reliable alternative energy sources. “We must also change how we power our automobiles. We will increase our research in better batteries for hybrid and electric cars, and in pollution-free cars that run on hydrogen. We'll also fund additional research in cutting-edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn, but from wood chips and stalks, or switch grass.
“Our goal is to make this new kind of ethanol practical and competitive within six years.”
This proposal to slash oil imports, however, is almost impossible to meet according to an energy forecasting agency. The federal Energy Information Administration forecasts that one out of every four barrels of crude produced in the world in 2025 will come from the Middle East, which would make it difficult for the US to avoid suppliers there.
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
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