The probably unintentional horror story on the front page of the Tribune on Halloween concerned higher gasoline prices now and in the future. This allows me to pen a few relatively simple solutions.
Several people in the know are suggesting that gasoline will be over $4 per gallon my Memorial Day 2010 as crude oil moves above $120 per barrel. What can we do?
1. Slow down in our driving habits. Millions of barrels could be saved if we didn’t have to drive at or above the speed limit.
2. Buy smaller cars and pickups.
3. Convert many of our cars and trucks to compressed natural gas. This is a particularly easy solution for fleet vehicles as municipal and state vehicles, school buses and over the road trucks. Most motors and fuel systems can be converted with relatively simple modifications. Natural gas is abundant and in the last few years huge deposits have been found in shale formations here in the United States. Using compressed natural gas avoids importing oil from countries that are politically unstable. It also makes us much more energy independent. Besides that it is about 40 cents per gallon cheaper than gasoline or diesel fuel at present prices and that difference may increase to more than a $1 a gallon in the near future.
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How long would it take me to offset a purchase of a new, smaller, or natural gas powered car or pickup? I owe $13,000 on my current one (pickup) and it gets 20 mpg.
P.S. I don't care about the environment. At least not enough to shell out for a new car.