US President George W Bush signed into law a landmark energy bill that increases US vehicle fuel efficiency for the first time in over three decades, significantly boosts ethanol use and phases out the traditional light bulb.

The key part of the new law raises the gasoline mileage requirements of cars and trucks by 40 per cent to an average 35 miles per gallon by 2020, which will eventually reduce US oil demand by two million barrels a day.
The law also raises yearly production of renewable motor fuels, such as ethanol, five fold to 36 billion gallons by 2022, and requires more ethanol in the next decade to be made from non-food “cellulosic” sources like wood chips, switchgrass and other agricultural waste. Most US ethanol is now made from corn.
“It will help us diversify our energy supplies and reduce our dependence on oil,” Bush said.
The energy efficiency of lighting will be improved by about 30 per cent under the law, which will force the phaseout of the traditional incandescent light bulb between 2012 and 2014, saving consumers about $13 a billion a year in electrical costs.
The law also requires appliances, including residential dishwashers and clothes washers and commercial walk-in coolers and freezers, to use less energy.
Supporters of the new law say it will help ease America’s addiction to foreign oil.