Click to enlarge »
The U.S. Department of Energy annually publishes statistics and information about U.S. transportation activity in the Transportation Energy Data Book.
Over 3 Trillion Miles Traveled in One Year
Vehicles in the United States traveled more than 3 trillion miles in 2007. Automobiles traveled 55% of the total number of miles traveled, while small- and medium-sized1 trucks covered 39% of total miles. Large (semi-trailer) trucks2 traveled 5%. Motorcycles and buses covered the smallest percentage of total miles, at 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively.
Recently, consumers’ costs for transportation fuel surpassed those for heating, cooling, and other household utility services.
Transportation costs have increased due to many factors related to increased travel, growth in the numbers of vehicles and people, and prices paid for transportation fuel. Costs have been offset by improved fuel economy to some extent.
Gasoline Is the Main Fuel Used in the Transportation Sector
Gasoline is the dominant transportation fuel. In 2008, petroleum products accounted for 94% of the transportation sector’s energy, and gasoline accounted for 64% of that. The United States consumed 9.0 million barrels of gasoline per day in 2008, which was 46% of all U.S. petroleum products consumed. The transportation sector consumed about 28% of U.S. energy in 2008.
Use of Biofuels Is On the Rise
The use of ethanol (an alcohol fuel made from the sugars found in grains) and ethanol blends such as E85 (an alternative fuel containing 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) in transportation went from 1.4 million gallons in 1995 to more than 9.6 million gallons in 2008, a nearly 7-fold increase in use.
Biodiesel, a fuel produced from a wide range of vegetable oils and animal fats, is another renewable fuel whose use is on the rise. Pure biodiesel or biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel can be used to fuel diesel vehicles, providing energy security and emissions and safety benefits. So far, the use of biodiesel has been limited to fleets of vehicles that have their own fueling stations. As the number of public fueling stations that offer biodiesel grows, it may become more popular with individual consumers.
The national RFS Program was developed to increase the volume of renewable fuel that is blended into gasoline and other transportation fuels. As required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized RFS Program regulations, effective September 1, 2007. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed into law in December 2007, increased and expanded this standard. In 2008, 9 billion gallons of renewable fuel must be used, increasing to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022. Beginning in 2013, a certain percentage of the renewable fuels must be advanced and/or cellulosic based biofuels and biomass-based diesel, pending final rulemaking by EPA. Cellulosic biofuel is defined as any renewable fuel derived from cellulose, hemicellulose, or lignin, and achieves a 60% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction. Advanced biofuel is defined as any renewable fuel, other than ethanol derived from corn, derived from renewable biomass, and achieves a 50% GHG emissions reduction.
Large Trucks Consume the Most Fuel per Vehicle
Although vans, pickup trucks, and sport utility vehicles use more energy in total, the average fuel consumption of medium and large (semi-trailer) trucks greatly exceeded fuel consumption rates of other vehicle categories. These rates trended upward over time, doubling from 2,300 gallons per truck in 1966 to 4,600 gallons per truck in 2002. Passenger car and van, pickup truck, and sport utility vehicle average fuel consumption rates were much lower and generally trended downward.
