Fuel Economy Standards Necessary But Not Sufficient to Cut Oil Demand
A new study from the National Research Council argues for fuel efficiency and consumer incentives, among other policy options
OIL DEMAND: To reduce oil demand and greenhouse gas emisisions will require not only fuel economy standards but also incentives for consumers to cut fuel use.
Simply forcing the U.S. automotive industry to comply with tougher fuel economy standards won't be enough to create substantial cuts in either greenhouse gas emissions or oil use, says a new report from the National Research Council.
The study finds that while tougher fuel efficiency standards are a crucial part of any plan to reduce emissions and oil demand, better standards alone would only slow the growth in both categories. The transportation sector is responsible for about 25 percent of carbon emissions nationally and about two-thirds of the country's oil use.
"I think that is one of the important points, that [tougher efficiency standards] is essential. It is an essential prerequisite," said Emil Frankel, who chaired the committee that authored the report.
"But if one accepts the ambitious goals in terms of reduction of oil dependence and energy use, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, [then] the technological changes, in and of themselves, won't achieve those very, very ambitious goals. But it's a prerequisite and it's an important contributor."
Instead, the authors conclude, a range of other solutions could create greater, more sustained gains over the long term. They include: vehicle efficiency standards, increasing fuel taxes, investing in transportation infrastructure, creating low-carbon standards for fuel and trying to minimize household vehicle use by examining land-use and travel-demand management.
The authors did not advocate for any single option. More important than any particular solution, Frankel said, was how the different proposals could be used in combination to achieve the greatest reduction in emissions and oil demand.
"A key thing is how these various policy options interact with one another, the bundling of various policy options, the synergistic effect," Frankel said. "So it's not only that one policy option isn't going to achieve it. Rather, what we need is two plus two has to equal five, and there is an opportunity with sophisticated, thoughtful implementation of these strategies for it to achieve very significant results through their synergistic effects."
The meaning of two sentences in the article
1. To reduce oil demand and greenhouse gas emisisions will require not only fuel economy standards but also incentives for consumers to cut fuel use.
Untuk mengurangi permintaan minyak dan gas rumah kaca emisisions akan membutuhkan tidak hanya standar ekonomi bahan bakar tetapi juga insentif bagi konsumen untuk mengurangi penggunaan bahan bakar.
2. Simply forcing the U.S. automotive industry to comply with tougher fuel economy standards won't be enough to create substantial cuts in either greenhouse gas emissions or oil use, says a new report from the National Research Council.
Cukup memaksa industri otomotif AS untuk memenuhi standar bahan bakar ekonomi yang lebih keras tidak akan cukup untuk membuat pemotongan substansial baik dalam emisi gas rumah kaca atau penggunaan minyak, kata sebuah laporan baru dari Dewan Riset Nasional.