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How much does business-as-usual cost? This morning, Green Car Congress reported that the US is projected to pay $440 billion for imported petroleum in 2008:
The increase to the estimated $440 billion for 2008 is based on an average $90 per barrel crude oil price for the year. In 2002, before the current bull market for oil began, US oil imports cost less than $103 billion. The preliminary figures for last year came to some $327 billion.
With little prospect for cheaper gas prices in the future, any decrease in the US export bill will have to come from a reduction in petroleum usage.
Which brings to mind two important questions:
- What percentage of our Gross Domestic Product will the US have to export before things start to change dramatically?
- Where is all this money going, anyway?
By Max Lindberg •
January 10, 2008
Anybody here surprised? I’m not. Global oil markets, according to the Energy Information Administration, will remain tight with some hopes of backing off in 2009. How’s that SUV or Hummer running?
We’re nowhere out of the woods as far as oil prices are concerned, and you can read all about it in the EIA’s release.
My thanks for Jo-Jo-Loo on Flickr for the image.
Editor's note: This week, Ecotality's Bill Hobbs points to an interesting new development: Algeria, a member of OPEC, has plans for exporting solar power. This post was originally published on June 20, 2007.
A member of OPEC jumps into the solar energy business? Gotta be from The Onion, right? Wrong. Algeria, which earns $1 billion every week exporting oil, is developing a plan to generate solar power for both export and domestic
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