Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 promotes the use of compact fluorescent bulbs. These kind of light bulbs are more energy efficient but costly compare to incandescent light bulbs. It was stated if every American home replaced lighbulb to compact fluorescent light bulbs, energy would be saved "more than $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars." (Energy Star.gov) This event was supported by many companies including Philips, the manufacturer.

The act was aimed to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, lessen energy independence, increase the efficiency of manufacturing products and cars, and find ways to capture greenhouse gas and storage . The act especially emphasized on improving vehicle fuel economy in order to help U.S. lessen the addiction to oil. CAFE standards were increased, where the act requires the automakers boost gas mileage to 35 mpg by the year 2020.
This will result an increase in "fuel economy standards by 40% and save billions of gallons of fuel."(whitehouse.gov)
One of the solution to capture greenhouse gas was carbon sequestration, where long-term carbon storage is planned on earth such as planting trees. This reduces carbon dioxide emission by using photosynthesis with biomass to release oxygen. Scientists believe just carbon sequestration is not enough, unless it is coupled with reversing deforestation.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is a major step to reduce the dependence on oil and gives our future generation a cleaner environment.

No comments: