The Energy Cost of Automobiles

Abstract

AbstractOne of the consequences of the energy crisis has been a heightened interest in the amounts of energy we use for industrial processes. A conspicuous one is the manufacture of automobiles. How much free energy is harnessed in the manufacture of a motor vehicle? Are there ways of reducing the amount of energy used in auto production?This report is based on a study by R. Stephen Berry and Margaret F. Fels of the department of chemistry, University of Chicago. The immediate purpose of the study was to provide the Institute of Environmental Quality of State of Illinois with assistance in making decisions on the disposal of automobile hulks and of solid waste in general. In a larger context, the analysis examines one aspect of how we use materials and energy from a thermodynamic point of view.The study is a pioneering effort in a new field of energy analysis. Its significance is illustrated by only one of its conclusions-that recycling junked autos which scarify our landscape and reusing the scrap in the manufacture of new ones would achieve dramatic reductions in total power consumption.