推动清洁交通的未来

但是，有一个很大程度上未被认识到的问题正在破坏这些努力, 我们使用的石油越来越脏. The resources broadly described as 石油 are changing, with major climate implications. The global warming pollution associated with 提取ing and refining a barrel of 石油 can vary by a factor of 超过五种: from less than 50 kilograms of carbon emissions per barrel to more than 250 kilograms. 这些排放量只占汽油排放量的一小部分 总计。 617888九五至尊娱乐影响, 但考虑到全球石油消费的规模，这是一个重要的问题, even slight increases in 石油-related emissions can have dramatic—and disastrous—consequences.

These added emissions occur as companies exploit hard-to-reach 石油 resources, 需要额外的能量来提取和提炼. 而不是尽量减少对617888九五至尊娱乐的影响, 石油工业正在增加非常规石油的产量, wasting significant amounts of energy and contributing to the climate crisis in avoidable ways.

事情本不必这样的. Smart policy choices can help ensure 生物燃料 and 电 continue getting cleaner, while also holding 石油 companies accountable for unnecessarily dirty practices.

油并不是生来平等的

Most drivers think of gasoline as generally uniform, “more or less the same everywhere.” But hidden behind the gas pump is a global 石油 supply chain that is changing in profound and damaging ways. 廉价且容易开采的油田正在枯竭, 迫使主要的行业参与者定位, 提取, 提炼风险更大, 昂贵的, 以及更脏的石油来源.

这些非常规资源包括加拿大 油砂, an 石油 with the consistency of peanut butter that requires massive amounts of energy to 提取 and refine into useable products. 致密油 是另一个罪魁祸首:遍布美国, 致密油井需要水力压裂，同时也会产生甲烷, 一种强有力的温室气体, 而不是被俘虏和利用, 经常被排气或燃烧(“燃烧”).

多亏了这些和其他非常规石油, the pollution associated with 提取ing and refining a barrel of 石油 has steadily risen. 开采和精炼过程是否应该继续变得更脏, production-related emissions could increase by a billion tons or more over the next 20 years—an amount roughly equivalent to the tailpipe emissions of all U.S. 2014年的汽车.

替代燃料的进展

The 石油 industry’s failure to decrease emissions has occurred against a backdrop of progress by electric cars and advanced, 新一代生物燃料. Two-thirds of all Americans now live in areas where driving an electric car produces 减少617888九五至尊娱乐排放 than almost all comparable gasoline and gasoline hybrid cars—a fact attributable to more efficient vehicles and an increasingly clean 电 grid.

与此同时, 生物燃料 have grown exponentially, with ethanol now accounting for 10 percent of all gasoline. 现在大多数乙醇来自玉米, which is around 20 percent cleaner than gasoline but which competes with food crops and forests and is also linked to 水污染 (PDF). 幸运的是, advanced 生物燃料 made from non-food resources are steadily leaving the laboratory and contributing to the low-carbon fuel supply—offering huge potential to cut 石油 use.

石油工业的作用

和其他人一样, 石油 companies have a responsibility to reduce the emissions from their own operations, 尽管运输部门使用的石油越来越少. 燃烧天然气的常见做法, 例如, 是浪费和不必要的, is the product of a flawed regulatory system rather than an inherent property of the 石油. And some of the dirtiest fossil fuels (like 油砂) could be avoided in favor of less-polluting resources.

透明度也是必须的. We know more about ethanol than we do about the 石油 that makes up 90 percent of gasoline. Disclosure laws requiring 石油 companies to reveal the carbon intensity of their fuels are sorely needed, 减少这些排放的政策也是如此. 目前只有加州和俄勒冈州有这样的法律.

Not standing in the way of rigorous climate science and climate policy is just as important. 尽管产生了 比例 of the world’s carbon emissions, most of the world’s largest 石油 and gas companies are or have been 涉及到 用617888九五至尊娱乐欺骗和虚假信息战术. 否认已确立的617888九五至尊娱乐617888九五至尊娱乐是不可接受的，也是无益的.

最终，我们需要使用更少的石油——非常少. 燃油效率, 电气化, 和更清洁的, 低碳燃料可以帮助我们实现这一目标, while a better-managed and more responsible 石油 industry could ensure what 石油 we do 使用不会变得更脏.

下载 报告 or 执行概要 for an in-depth analysis of transportation fuels and their role in combating climate change. 看到 技术附件 for a detailed explanation of key calculations, or download the chapters seperately on 石油, 生物燃料, 电.