The greatest “new” energy source available to use is the reduced demand brought about by greater energy efficiency and conservation. Significant progress has been made in the past and more is expected in the future.

We use about half as much energy today for every dollar of Gross Domestic Product as we did back in 1980. Looking forward, our nation must take energy efficiency more seriously. Our industry is doing its part. Through such technologies as combined heat and power, also known as cogeneration—the re-use of excess heat from refinery processes to produce additional energy—refiners are becoming more efficient, reducing both energy use and emissions.

The oil and natural gas industry has pledged to improve energy efficiency by 10 percent at refineries between 2002 and 2012, and we are making progress in meeting that goal. In fact, in 2006 alone, U.S. refiners saved the energy equivalent of taking 528,000 cars off the road.