Energy use in the transportation

Thompson, L. S., and Fraser, J. (1995). Energy Use in the Transport Seetor. Washington, DC World Bank. 

Garman, David K. 2003. Testimony of Assistant Secretary Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the U.S. Senate. "Energy Use in the Transportation Sector." March 6. 

Table A-3. Energy Use in the Transportation Sector by Mode (1970 Values) ...

The benefits of alcohol fuels include increased energy diversification in the transportation sector, accompanied by some energy security and balance of payments benefits, and potential air quaUty improvements as a result of the reduced emissions of photochemically reactive products (see Air POLLUTION). The Clean Air Act of 1990 and emission standards set out by the State of California may serve to encourage the substantial use of alcohol fuels, unless gasoline and diesel technologies can be developed that offer comparable advantages. 

When discussing material outputs of the petroleum refining industry, it is important to note the relationship between the outputs of the industry itself and the outputs resulting from the use of refmery products. Petroleum refineries play an important role in the U.S. economy, supplying approximately 40% of the total energy used in the U.S. and virtually all of the energy consumed in the transportation sector. 

Regulations and Subsidies That Hove Distorted Energy Use in the Freight Transportation Market... 

As discussed in previous sections, sugars, starch and (ligno)cellulose can be converted into ethanol by fermentation, the latter via preliminary chemical and physical pretreatment followed by enzymatic breakdown of the biopolymers. Pure ethanol can be added to gasoline or diesel. However, this requires an energy-intensive distillation step. This and the energy used in fertilizers, transportation... 

The energy released by electron transfer can be used in the transport of protons through the membrane. One of the proton conduction mechanisms in proteins is through a chain of hydrogen bonds in the protein, i.e. a Grotthus mechanism (Section 2.9), similar to the mechanism of proton movement in ice. Protons are injected and removed by the various oxidation/reduction reactions which occur in the cell there is no excess of protons or electrons in the final balance, and the reaction cycle is self-sustaining. 

Figure 5.1 shows the total primary energy supply (TPES) by fuel types over the last twenty years. Since the early 1980s, use of natural gas and renewables has increased in the electricity and heating sectors. As a result, use of coal decreased - in particular after 1995. Oil has also decreased in the heating and electricity sector, but the decrease has been offset by an increase of its use in the transport sector. 

In the United States, more than half of the approximately 2.6 million tons of oil and petroleum products used per day is imported, primarily from Saudi Arabia, Canada, and Venezuela. About 40% of the daily demand in the U.S. is for automotive gasoline and about 15% is for diesel fuel used in transportation. About 40% of the energy used in the United States comes from petroleum, 35% from natural gas, and 24% from coal. 

It is well known that ICEVs have rather low on-the-road efficiencies (currently 20-25%, at best), but their overall performance is in fact even lower when account is taken of the energy used in the extraction, transport and refining of the oil and then in the delivery of the petrol. Together, these extra losses typically amount to around 13% i.e., a net efficiency of 87%). On multiplying the two values, the overall well-to-wheels efficiency is reduced to 17—22%. 

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