Energy Security facts

The report analyzes the drivers of U.S. energy insecurity, highlighting the high dependence on oil imports from unstable regions and the vulnerability of domestic infrastructure like the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System. It argues that energy productivity gains since 1975 have been the nation's largest energy 'source' and that further efficiency improvements in light vehicles could displace net imports from the Persian Gulf.

• U.S. energy insecurity is driven by ten primary factors, including reliance on oil imports from unstable regions, volatile world oil prices, and the use of U.S. oil payments by other countries to fund terrorism or buy destabilizing weapons.
• As of 2000, oil constituted 39% of primary energy consumption in the United States, with 53% of the oil supply coming from net imports. Of these net imports, 52% originated in the Western Hemisphere and 24% from the Persian Gulf.
• Transportation accounts for 68% of U.S. oil use, with light highway vehicles (cars, pickups, vans, and SUVs) consuming 63% of that transportation energy. Light vehicles alone use as much oil as the total production of Saudi Arabia.
• Between 1975 and 2000, U.S. energy productivity (GDP per unit of energy used) rose by 64%, effectively becoming a new energy source equivalent to 2.8 times net oil imports or 11.6 times net imports from the Persian Gulf.
• A modest improvement of 3.25 mpg in the 2000 U.S. light-vehicle fleet would have saved enough oil to displace net imports from the Persian Gulf.
• The Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System (TAPS) is described as a brittle and vulnerable piece of infrastructure that is easier to disrupt and harder to repair than the Strait of Hormuz, making reliance on it a security risk.
• The U.S. emits more CO2 from burning oil than any other country, with light vehicles alone emitting one-fifth of all U.S. CO2 emissions.

APA

LOVINS, A. B. (2003). Energy Security facts. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_S03-04_USESFbooklet.pdf

Chicago

LOVINS, AMORY B. Energy Security facts. RMI, 2003. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_S03-04_USESFbooklet.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=LOVINS |first1=AMORY B. |title=Energy Security facts |publisher=RMI |date=18 April 2003 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_S03-04_USESFbooklet.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lovins2003energy, author = {LOVINS, AMORY B.}, title = {{Energy Security facts}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2003}, month = apr, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_S03-04_USESFbooklet.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }