We may not think about it much when we pull up to the pumps to fill our cars with dinosaur (read: gasoline and diesel), but are we ignoring our addiction to fossil fuels?
In the United States alone, there are some 212 million drivers. If we average 11,500 miles per year and the average fuel economy is 24.9 mpg, that rounds out to about 98 billion gallons of fuel consumed every year. Perhaps that number bites when we consider the average price of fuel is $3.43/gal, some $355 billion per year, even after federal and state subsidies! Perhaps a bigger bite would be to consider how much carbon dioxide is emitted, some 961 million tons, annually. From nearly every perspective, our fossil fuel addiction is unsustainable, and the crash will be devastating unless, of course, we can wean ourselves of fossil fuels…
A number of leaders in the field of transportation and petroleum have had their input on the production, PUMP – The Movie, including John Hofmeister, former Shell Oil Company president, and Elon Musk, Tesla Motors CEO and SolarCity Chairman of the Board.
Actually, it’s not even a transportation problem, our addiction to fossil fuels, but an entire system built to power the world, including power plants and industry. Still, given that transportation is one of the few things we have somewhat direct control over, it’s a good place to start. At least from the trailer, it seems that the focus of the film will be on carbon-neutral alternative fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, and on zero-emissions alternative fuels, such as electric vehicles or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. I hope they make PUMP available online for download. If so, be sure to look for a review here on The Green Optimistic.
Photo credit: joiseyshowaa
