Is the US dependent on Middle East for oil?

Henry Bell 10 Geography 2011-2012

The general thought towards oil imports in the US is that it’s dependent on the Middle East to fill its’ needs. This is why the United States has been so involved with this region of the world, in fear that any conflict could completely shatter the ties between these countries thus raising gas prices or completely lose the availability entirely.

According to the U.S. Department of Economics, in 2007, about 23% of U.S. imported oil came from the Middle East. This percentage includes the following countries: Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia makes us 17% of that 23%.

The United States is dependent on the Middle East for oil importing 23% of it’s oil from there, however due to instability in the region, the US is making strides in other alternatives such as such as biofuels, production from other countries, HEP, wind and solar energy as well as technological efficiency to reduce it’s dependence in an unstable area of the world.

Why does the US want to reduce it’s dependence on the Middle East?

!   The Middle East is an unstable region in the world at the moment with revolutions, religious conflicts, wars, corrupt political leaders and various other issues taking place (e.g. Iran/Israeli conflict, Israel vs. Palestine, Arab Spring etc)

!   Due to the rich natural resources, many Western countries importing oil from there have been attempting to achieve stability in this region.

!   The US, however, wants to reduce it’s dependence on oil due to the instability in this region and has shown this through their advancements in other alternatives.

What is alternatives is the US making for Middle Eastern oil?

!   Biofuels

!   Production from other countries such as Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Equador, Angola, Russia and Brazil (See Chart)

!   Renewable Energy such as Hydroelectric Power, Solar, Wind etc.

!   Technological efficiency

!   Geothermal Power

http://energy.gov/articles/our-dependence-foreign-oil-declining

http://www.pewenvironment.org/news-room/reports/whos-winning-the-clean-energy-race-2011-edition-85899381106

http://www.pewenvironment.org/news-room/reports/whos-winning-the-clean-energy-race-2011-edition-85899381106

Production from Other Countries

http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

Biofuels Biofuel is a fuel produced from renewable biomass material, commonly used as an alternative, cleaner fuel source (Clean Energy Ideas)

Types of Biofuels:

•  Bioethanol or Bioalcohols

•  Biodiesel

•  Bioethers

•  Biogas

•  Syngas

(Explore Green Energy)

Biofuels (cont.)

!   The US has been making many strides in using Biofuels as an alternative for oil.

!   Recently, the US government has invested $510M in advanced, drop-in biofuels (Bio Fuels Digest).

!   Additionally, the US government made a $24M investment in Algae Biofuel Research (Inhabitat).

!   In February 2012, the US made another $14 Million for Algae Biofuels (Bloomberg).

Hydroelectric Power

!   Hydroelectric power uses the gravitational potential of elevated water that was lifted from the oceans by sunlight. It is not completely renewable because all reservoirs eventually fill up and require very expensive excavation to become useful again. At this time most of the available locations for hydroelectric dams are already used in the developed world.

!   It is also currently the largest producer of renewable energy in the US.

!   In 2008, the US was the 4th in hydroelectric power in the world after China, Brazil, and Canada (International Energy Agency)

Hydroelectric Power (cont.)

Largest U.S. hydroelectric power stations:

!   Grand Coulee (Washington)

!   Chief Joseph Dam (Washington)

!   Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant (New York)

!   John Day Dam (Oregon/Washington)

!   Bath County PSP (Virginia)

!   Hoover Dam (Nevada/Arizona)

!   The Dalles Dam (Oregon/Washington)

Geothermal Power

!   Geothermal energy is the heat from the Earth. It's clean and sustainable. Resources of geothermal energy range from the shallow ground to hot water and hot rock found a few miles beneath the Earth's surface, and down even deeper to the extremely high temperatures of molten rock called magma. (Renewable Energy World)

!   In 2010, the United States led the world in geothermal electricity production with 3,086 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity from 77 power plants (Holm).

Solar Energy

!   Solar energy is the technology of obtaining usable energy from the light of the sun. Solar energy has been used in many traditional technologies for centuries, and has come into widespread use where other power supplies are absent, such as in remote locations and in space. (Water Fuel Converters)

!   Solar energy is considerably used in the United States. The largest solar power facility, Solar Energy Generating Systems, is situated in California with a total capacity of 354 megawatts. Though this is by far the largest solar energy plant in the United States, there are various others proving that the US is taking strides in healthy energy producing alternatives.

Wind Energy

!   Wind Energy is energy received from the movement of the wind across the earth. This energy is a result of the heating of our oceans, earth, and atmosphere by the sun (Clean Energy Ideas).

!   The use of wind energy in the United States has exponentially increased over the years. Construction of new wind power generation capacity in 2011 totaled 6810 megawatts (MW) bringing the cumulative installed capacity to 46,919 MW. The US is also just behind China in the world leaders in Wind Energy production. (World Wind Energy Association)

http://www.pewenvironment.org/news-room/reports/whos-winning-the-clean-energy-race-2011-edition-85899381106

Technological Efficiency

!   In addition to finding alternatives for oil in the Middle East, the United States has also reduced the need for oil as a whole.

!   It’s been able to do this through more technologically efficient cars, machines etc.

!   Car companies are making strides in more energy efficient cars such as the 2012 Toyota Prius with 50 mpg, the 2012 Lexus CT 200h at 42 mpg and many others. (The Daily Green)

!   Siemens, LG and other companies are making more energy efficient everyday appliances as well (Planet Green)

Conclusion

!   In conclusion, the United States is in fact reliant on Middle Eastern oil however, due to the instability of that region, the US is making strides in clean, renewable energy as well as imports from other stable countries to avoid such a precarious dependence on the Middle East.

Works Cited