Guzzled up

The United States may never again guzzle as much gas as we did in 2007. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, that’s the year analysts and oil company executives pinpoint as being the year gas consumption in the country may have peaked.

Americans used 371 million gallons of petroleum-based gasoline every day in 2007, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That figure is expected to fall by 7 percent to just over 345 million gallons in 2009. The recession accounts for some portion of the reduced consumption. However, concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel independence, improvements in fuel efficiency standards and rising interest in hybrid and electric vehicles are why Exxon Mobil Corps. has forecasted a 22 percent drop in fuel demand between now and 2030.