July 07, 2010
How To Break An Oil Addiction
Here at Growth Energy, we don't always agree with Pioneer Astronautics President Robert Zubrin, but in his most recent article published in the Washington Times, he hits the nail right on the head. Zubrin says that in order to break our nation's "dangerous and ever-growing dependence on foreign oil" we need to cure our cars of their oil addiction.
How do we do that, you ask? Simple. Mandate the use of Flex Fuel Vehicles in the United States.
Flex Fuel Vehicles are capable of operating on any combination of conventional and renewable fuels. Each flex fuel vehicle gives consumers the option of filling up with domestic, homegrown renewable fuel and enhances our national security, all while creating U.S. jobs and greening our environment.
They also don't cost much more than your average car. As Zubrin says, "If installed at the time of manufacture, the inclusion of [the FFV] feature adds only about $100 to the cost of a typical car."
Today, there are a mere eight million vehicles on U.S. highways that are flexible fuel vehicles, out of over 246 million vehicles on the road. That is barely 3 percent of our fleet. In Brazil, that number is 90 percent. If we are truly going to realize our own nation’s energy independence goals, we need to ensure that our entire vehicle fleet and fuel infrastructure are ready to use expanded U.S. ethanol production. If we mandate that all vehicles be Flex Fuel capable we can finally remove ourselves from the strategic hold that oil holds over our country.
