The us president, George W Bush, signed a new energy law on December 19. It intends to reduce reliance on oil imports and sets higher fuel efficiency standards for the first time since 1975.
The law, the Energy Independence and Security Act, also requires a huge increase in the production of ethanol as a substitute for petrol--from 6 billion gallons a year now to 36 billion gallons by 2022.
If the production target is achieved, the measure could cut us fossil fuel use by 1.1 million barrels a day, which is about half the daily amount currently imported from the Persian Gulf. The act also sets new energy-efficiency standards for household appliances, including refrigerators, dishwashers and washing machines. It mandates to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2012 and replace them with cfls.
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