1.1: Energy Diversity
Increase our energy options and reduce dependence on oil, thereby reducing vulnerability to disruption and increasing the
flexibility of the market to meet U.S. needs.
Other Information:
Energy diversity is essential for America's energy security and economic prosperity. In 2004, America imported 65 percent
of the crude oil it used domestically. By 2030, the Energy Information Administration forecasts that crude oil imports will
rise to 75 percent of our total crude oil supply and natural gas imports will rise from 17 percent today to 21 percent of
our total natural gas supply. America's energy security and economic well-being are challenged when the United States is dependent
upon other countries for the fuels that account for over 60 percent of the Nation's current energy use. This is especially
true in the case of the transportation sector, which is the least energy-diverse sector of the American economy with petroleum
accounting for more than 95 percent of the fuel consumed. Taking steps to reduce the transportation sector’s dependence on
oil is a critical component of the Department’s strategic goals. The Department is investing in both alternative fuels and
energy efficiency technologies to reduce the energy-intensity and increase the fuel-flexibility of America’s economy while
maintaining environmental stewardship. In the near-to-mid term, advances in biofuels, fuel blends, plug-in hybrids, and more
efficient vehicle technologies could increase the energy diversity and efficiency of America’s transportation sector. In the
long term, innovation in hydrogen production, storage, and use may enable consumers to drive vehicles powered by hydrogen
produced from multiple domestically available energy sources and help pave the way for a full-scale hydrogen energy economy.
The Department is also pursuing energy diversity by supporting the development of a suite of electricity generation options
that can promote reasonable and stable prices and a variety of efficiency technologies that will improve energy productivity
in all sectors of the American economy. Taken together, these technologies diversify our energy portfolio and increase our
energy security (these advances are addressed in Strategic Goals #1.2 and #1.4).
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