No really. They want 35.7mpg from your Bugatti in 2015. And they're serious.

[HeilSvenska]

End of internal combustion engines within sight.

Car makers could face 75mpg rules by 2030s, EPA says David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau DETROIT -- The nation's passenger cars and light trucks may have to average 75 miles per gallon by the 2030s, a top federal environmental official said at the SAE International World Congress. Margo Oge, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said Monday at the SAE International 2008 World Congress in Detroit that's the level of fuel economy needed to meet a widely backed scientific-community proposal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 80 percent by 2050 from 2000 levels. Congress has mandated automobiles and light trucks average an industry fleet-wide average of 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over current requirements. To meet the low end of the 2050 proposal, automakers would have to average 75 mpg in the 2030s, Oge. "There are a lot of strategies you need to consider -- both engines and fuels," she said in an interview. Automakers "need to be thinking of those investments for the long term basis," beyond the energy bill, Oge said. She noted the "political, economic and regulatory landscape in the United States and globally has changed dramatically over the past year. The reality is the pace of change will not be letting up anytime soon." Oil use may rise to 120 million barrels a day by 2030, up from the current worldwide average of 85 million barrels a day, as oil demand in China and India is expected to at least double. The transportation sector accounts for two thirds of U.S. oil use and one third of greenhouse gas emissions. General Motors Corp's director of powertrain systems research J. Gary Smyth said that the world's auto fleet could reach 1 billion vehicles by 2030, up from 820 million today. Oge said the auto industry should be able to meet the 35 mpg standard by 2018 with the same size fleet, with cost-effective technology improvements, based on an internal EPA study. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is expected to release its proposal for 2010-2015 fuel economy increases as soon as next week, after the White House completes its review of the proposal. Oge confirmed the EPA has sent "a number of comments to NHTSA (on the fuel economy proposal). "This is typical," Oge said. "They are constructive comments." EPA is studying the effect of different types of renewable fuels in light of the congressional mandate to hike the number of gallons of biofuels and renewables to 36 billion gallons annually by 2022 -- more than five times the current levels. By 2013, all gasoline will be blended with 10 percent ethanol, Oge said. Congress ordered that 16 billion gallons of the renewable fuels standard come from cellulosic ethanol -- a technology that is still under development and essentially producing almost no fuel yet. GM announced earlier this year it had purchased a small equity stake in a cellulosic start-up firm, Coskata Inc., which vows to produce at least 100 million gallons of $1-a-gallon cellulosic ethanol by 2011. EPA is looking the impact of different types of renewable fuels as well as the impact on the food supply of using so many crops -- especially corn -- to produce fuel. The lifecycle analysis of different fuels will look at direct and indirect greenhouse gas footprint of different biofuels, Oge said.

[RC45]

pretty stupid.. the US will be crippled with super expensive alternatives and wooden wagons... while the rest of the developing world will be streaking ahead and consuming raw materials at a rate of knots.. become the industrial and financial pilalrs of the world...

and the USA will be entered into history as a footnote.. not unlike the romans, babylonians, egyptions and greeks

p.s. not to forget that all the food corn farmed int he US will go to fuel those GM cars that China will be buying - the ones the collapsed US public sector economy will no longer be ale to afford

And the money China will be using to pay for all this? Debt payments made by the US to service all the loans China will be holding hehe

Talk of a turn of events ...

[79TA]

Car manufacturers will have to start making glorified motorscooters with cabs in order to accomplish that.

Unless something pretty ground-breaking comes along, that would have to be the case.

[Run_A_Mock]

Clarkson already did that like 20 years ago...

[Mattk]

Fuel consumption is only part of pollution control. A better solution would be to compel makers to install better exhaust systems. That hurts performance, but it's far less restrictive, and much more effective and reducing emissions. That said, cars contribute so little to global pollution that it's not really worth it.

[nthfinity]

Originally Posted by Mattk Fuel consumption is only part of pollution control. A better solution would be to compel makers to install better exhaust systems. That hurts performance, but it's far less restrictive, and much more effective and reducing emissions. That said, cars contribute so little to global pollution that it's not really worth it.

with modern Cat's, there is literally nearly zero pollutants coming out of the exhaust. I could debate that C02 is not a pollutant quite easily.

[Mattk]

Yeah, you're right. Not much room for improvement there. But that's pretty much the only viable way, if such a 'problem' needed to be fix.

[HeilSvenska]

Originally Posted by Mattk Yeah, you're right. Not much room for improvement there. But that's pretty much the only viable way, if such a 'problem' needed to be fix.

You can always ban internal combustion.

[fordgt84]

hehehehe if this goes through we are so screwed , we'll have to find other interests... is there a forum 4 discussing socks anyone?

Originally Posted by RC45 pretty stupid.. the US will be crippled with super expensive alternatives and wooden wagons... while the rest of the developing world will be streaking ahead and consuming raw materials at a rate of knots.. become the industrial and financial pilalrs of the world... Talk of a turn of events ...

indeed a serious turn of events and i don't doubt it happening sooner rather than later

[Bizi Jones]

so what happened to all the talk about 'when oil reaches $80 a barrel we'll see alternatives fuels become cost viable blah blah...' Oil is at $115 and the only alternative solutions are the slow poke hybrids or that BMW Hydrogen 7...a marketing ploy at its best...

[HeilSvenska]

I feel sick.

Early Target for Fuel Economy Is Expected By BILL VLASIC DETROIT — Federal regulators are expected to unveil on Tuesday an accelerated schedule for auto companies to work toward a fuel-efficiency goal of 35 miles a gallon by 2020 for their vehicle fleets. The proposed regulation is likely to require the industry to meet a target of 31.5 miles a gallon for Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, by 2015, according to three people with knowledge of the announcement. The interim standard would force auto companies to speed up their development of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. In December, Congress mandated that auto companies reach a new minimum CAFE standard of 35 miles a gallon between 2011 and 2020. Currently, the average of cars and light trucks combined is about 25 miles a gallon. But the legislation left it to the Bush administration to determine how quickly the industry needed to make progress. The announcement, by the Transportation secretary, Mary E. Peters, is expected to require the industry to achieve more than half of the overall goal between 2011 and 2015. The Transportation Department declined to provide details of the announcement, scheduled for Tuesday in Washington. But one environmental consultant, Daniel F. Becker, said the interim target for CAFE was likely to be 31.5 miles a gallon by 2015. That target would essentially push auto companies to achieve the bulk of the reductions in the first half of the 10-year phase-in period. “They will be implementing roughly two-thirds of the improvements in oil use and emissions in half the time,” said Mr. Becker, an independent consultant to environmental groups. Mr. Becker said he had reason to believe that federal regulators would require an improvement of six miles a gallon by 2015, with an additional four miles a gallon by 2020. Environmental groups have argued that auto companies should be pressed to make the greatest strides toward the new CAFE standard early in the process. “The improvements that are made in the early stages will add up significantly over time,” said Eli Hopson, a Washington representative of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Mr. Hopson declined to comment on what his group expected from Ms. Peters’s announcement, but said a requirement of 31.5 miles a gallon by 2015 would be “a good first step.” There was no immediate comment from auto companies. Privately, an official at one Detroit automaker said the industry expected an aggressive first-stage requirement toward meeting the CAFE goal. The expected announcement comes as gas prices hit landmark highs. On Monday, an oil industry study group said that the average price for regular unleaded gasoline was now a fraction over $3.50 a gallon, nearly 65 cents higher than a year ago. “For the first time ever, the average American is paying more than $3.50 a gallon to fill up a vehicle,” said a survey released by the Oil Price Information Service.

[RC45]

And while the feds have their heads buried in the sand of Marxotopia, the Chinese will keep building a new coal / oil fired powerstation every 2 weeks or so.

Oh my god.. who the fuck is driving the bus that the western world was forced to get onto?

[HeilSvenska]

Transport Secretary, Mary Peters, who must be very eager to lose her job, wants 35.7mpg, not 35mpg by 2015, not 2020. Of course, this must be a crazy conspiracy by the Chinese government or by extreme Islamic terrorists, or by them both, because it's just too random.

Secretary Peters Proposes 25 Percent Increase in Fuel Efficiency Standards Over 5 Years for Passenger Vehicles, Light Trucks Fuel efficiency standards for both passenger vehicles and light trucks would increase by 4.5 percent per year over the five-year period ending in 2015 – a 25 percent total improvement that exceeds the 3.3 percent baseline proposed by Congress last year – under an ambitious new proposal announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. “This proposal is historically ambitious, yet achievable,” Secretary Peters said. “It will help us all breathe a little easier by reducing tailpipe emissions, cutting fuel consumption and making driving a little more affordable.” For passenger cars, the proposal would increase fuel economy from the current 27.5 miles per gallon to 35.7 miles per gallon by 2015. For light trucks, the proposal calls for increases from 23.5 miles per gallon in 2010 to 28.6 miles per gallon in 2015. All told, the proposal will save nearly 55 billion gallons of fuel and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions estimated at 521 million metric tons. The plan will save America’s drivers over $100 billion in fuel costs over the lifetime of the vehicles covered by the rule, Secretary Peters said. As required by Congress, the proposed rule allows for automakers to earn credits for exceeding Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards. This will serve as an incentive for companies to exceed these goals while giving manufacturers flexibility to meet the standards without compromising their economic vitality. The goal is to save fuel, not endanger jobs, Secretary Peters said. “Looking at the fuel-efficient technologies already available, it’s easy to see a not-too-distant future when cars fueled by something other than gasoline will be readily available and affordable,” Secretary Peters said. “Until that time, however, we will continue to do what we can, safely and efficiently, to improve gas mileage and help consumers spend less time and less money at the pump.”