In a Reuters news report dated February 3, 2010, President Obama is quoted as saying, "By 2022 we will more than double the amount of biofuels we produce to 36 billion gallons, which will decrease our dependence on foreign oil by hundreds of millions of barrels per year." Use the following information to determine the fraction of our projected 2022 total energy demand this target represents to assess its significance.(M = mega = 10⁶)
U.S.projected annual energy demand in 2022: equivalent of 22 .10³ Mbarrels of oil
Energy density of oil: 5.9 . 10³ MJ/barrel
Energy density of biofuels: 1.0 .10² MJ/gal
Mass density of petroleum: 9.0 .10² g/L
Mass density of biofuels: 8.0 .10² g/L
1 gal = 3.785 L

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The target of 36 billion gallons of biofuels in 2022 represents 36 * 1.0 * 10^2 MJ of energy. The projected total energy demand in 2022 is 22 * 5.9 * 10^3 MJ. So the fraction of the total demand represented by the biofuels target is (36 * 1.0 * 10^2) / (22 * 5.9 * 10^3) = 0.028 or 2.8%.

In a Reuters News Report Dated February 3, 2010, President