The Problem:

Resources: Energy Flow US 2019: Gasoline Engine Efficiency

From the energy flow diagrams calculate the energy use for transportation in kWh/person-day for the US. Again, you will be converting Quads to kWh. In this case you will get a number higher than the one we, and David, calculated in class. Can you offer an explanation for why the total use of energy for transportation in the country is greater than your personal use.

If we doubled the fuel efficiency of all of our vehicles how much would this affect our national use of fossil fuels in the form of diesel and gasoline? This question asks you to understand some important features of the energy flow plot for the US.

Based only on the efficiency of the engines/motors (20% for gas engines and 90% for electric motors) what would the total energy usage in the US be if every vehicle had an electric motor? To do this you need to how much electric energy is needed so that 90% of it provides the 5.9 Quads needed to actually move your electric vehicle down the road.

If we, as a country, converted all vehicles to electric power trains tomorrow would this change our dependence on fossil (non-renewable) fuels? Explain your answer from the data that is on the energy flow plot.