Revised program for maximizing U. S. energy self-sufficiency

Book · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1977

OSTI ID:5285916

Linden, H R; Seay, J G

This study attempts to quantify the various domestic sources of energy which could gradually eliminate oil imports by 2000, while allowing for an increase in primary energy consumption of about 3.5 percent annually to 1985 and 2 percent annually from 1985 to 2000. Imports of Canadian and Mexican natural gas, and of LNG, are assumed to grow slowly, and domestic production of crude oil and natural gas is assumed to proceed at the maximum levels consistent with the remaining resource base. The key measure would be a crash program for the creation of a synthetic fuels industry for the production of the equivalent of 9.8 million barrels per day of clean gaseous and liquid fuels from coal and oil shale for direct consumption by the year 2000, plus a substantial additional capability for the production of clean gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels from coal for central power generation. Probably, the most critical milestone would be the commercial demonstration by 1985 of a spectrum of first- and second-generation technologies for production of high- and low-Btu gas, distillate and residual fuels, solvent refined coal, and methanol, so that informed investment and environmental decisions for achieving the year 2000 goal can be made. In this proposed program, direct industrial use of coal, other than for central power generation, would be limited to 250 million tons per year. By the year 2000, electric power generation would consume 50 percent of primary energy sources, including a substantial component of hydro, solar, and geothermal energy and lesser amounts of oil and gas for peaking purposes, with the remainder split roughly equally between nuclear energy and coal. Implicit in these assumptions for synthetic fuels production and electric power generation is an increase in annual domestic coal consumption to more than a billion tons by 1985 and approximately 2.3 billion tons by the year 2000.

• OSTI ID: 5285916
• Report Number(s): NP-22809
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
292000* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Supply
Demand & Forecasting
294000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Fossil Fuels
295000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Hydrogen & Synthetic Fuels
ALLOCATIONS
BITUMINOUS MATERIALS
CANADA
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
ENERGY
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY SOURCES
ENERGY SUPPLIES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FINANCING
FLUIDS
FORECASTING
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GASES
INDUSTRY
INVESTMENT
LIQUEFIED NATURAL GAS
MARKET
MEXICO
MONOPOLIES
NATURAL GAS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR ENERGY
OIL SHALES
PETROLEUM
PLANNING
PRODUCTION
SYNTHETIC FUELS
SYNTHETIC FUELS INDUSTRY
TAXES
USA
WATER RESOURCES