Arab oil embargo

The facilities for experimental work were poor, with inadequate wet laboratory space. In our discussions, I mentioned to Kaprielian my interest in significantly extending my previous work into the area of hydrocarbon chemistry. I felt that by establishing a strong program of basic research and graduate education in hydrocarbon chemistry, USC could become a leader in this important field. Because the memory of the first Arab oil embargo was still fresh, this struck a chord with Kaprielian, who felt that he could sell my research interest to the trustees and establish a Hydrocarbon Research Institute at USC that could accommodate me, as well as other chemistry faculty members whose interests could fit into its framework. 

Table 1 describes the ensuing legislation that was promulgated to promote energy efficient construction as a result of the Arab oil embargo. 

Because of the Arab oil embargo of 1973 and the subsequent increase in energy costs, U.S. energy growth decreased and U.S. nuclear capacity has increased from forty to only a hundred and ten plants. The point is that although the need disappeared, there was little doubt that tens of nuclear plants per year could be installed in just the U.S. and there is little doubt that world wide, the construction of a hundred new plants per year can be accomplished. 

Electrics have made some reappearances over the years. A major effort occurred after the fuel problems from the Arab oil embargo in 1973. But in the late 1950s the utility-endorsed Henney Kilowatt of 1959 to 1961 appeared as a converted French Renault Dauphine. About 120 Henneys were built and other efforts were even not that successful. 

In 1973, the Arab oil embargo and the sudden escalation in crude oil prices (Figures 1,2) and availability placed refiners under great economic pressures to process more abundant, less expensive, metals-contaminated crude oils and residuum feedstocks. The need for metals-resistant FCC became apparent, and work on understanding metal-catalyst interactions became an area of intense research in industrial laboratories and in the academic community. 

Although the deleterious effects of metals such as V, Cu, Ni and Fe have been known for well over forty years (1-19), the study of metal resistant fluidized cracking catalysts (FCC) became an area of intense research in industrial and academic laboratories only in the early seventies when the Arab Oil embargo induced nearly a four-fold increase in crude prices and greatly reduced overseas crude availability (2). 

Texaco Coal Gasification Process. In the late sixties, the solids gasification process finally evolved to its present form and the energy crisis brought on by the 1973 Arab oil embargo greatly accelerated the development of the Texaco Coal Gasification Process. ... 

Even Hudson was huge compared to the electric vehicle start-ups that appeared after the 1973 Arab oil embargo. Companies like Linear Alpha produced conversions along with Electric Fuel Propulsion, which sold its 100-mile-range Transformer model for a short time. Sebring-Vanguard made its CitiCar and was able to sell all it could make for a short time, but sales slumped when gas prices dropped and the gas lines disappeared. 

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