Towards energy independence in 2025

Significant inroads towards achieving energy independence can be made by reducing oil use in the light duty transportation sector. By increasing CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, biofuel use, hybrid vehicle market share, and promoting the development of plug-in hybrid vehicles, we find oil imports can be reduced by 20-32% by 2025. Further, under our most aggressive case, 22% (6.3 million barrels per day) of daily oil use is saved from business-as-usual practices by 2025, realistically eliminating imports from the Persian Gulf by 2021. At the same time, carbon emissions can be reduced by 50% from light duty transportation with a cost savings of up to $1.1 trillion (2005 $). Additionally, electricity savings from implementing energy efficiency measures (EE) can provide enough energy to power nearly 42 million plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2025.