More evidence the US can free itself from oil

According to energy-efficiency advocate, Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute, the U.S. can slowly end its oil dependency by 2050, saving money in the process.

The basic plan is based around the automotive industry. Using "ultralight" cars and trucks, fuel efficiency could be significantly increased. By using new materials, such as carbon fiber, cars and trucks could reduce their weight by at least 50 percent, without any reduction in safety.

Additionally, the plan calls for the use of bio-fuels and natural gas. According to the report, the cost of a barrel of these new fuels would be only $12.00 per barrel.

These new ultralights would offer about 85 mpg for midsize cars, and 66 mpg for SUVs. Furthermore, combined with other technologies and technological advances, these increases in energy-efficiency could be interpolated even further. For example, hybrid car technology or electric car technology would also be greatly improved with lighter cars. Morever, combined with biomass-fuels, even greater improvements are clearly within reach, that not only improve efficiency, but significantly decrease pollution.

Unfortunately, there appears to be little incentive for automotive or oil companies to head down this path.