Gasoline!
Many of you who pay for their gas are probably freaking about the current prices. I made this post to help answer some questions and give some comments on how to conserve.
You are most likely wondering why gasoline prices are rising so rapidly. You probably know it has to do with the price of oil, and maybe something about the Middle East. Here's the scoop: oil is a finite resource on this planet, a "fossil fuel." There's only so much of it in the ground, and the easiest-to-reach has already been reached for. Sure, there are still more undiscovered wells that are easy to extract, but there are not enough being discovered to make up for the the ones that are just now being depleted. This means the oil production forms a sort of peak, and we've reached the peak now. The easy discoveries are decreasing, and we will never be able to produce as much cheap oil again.
But then there's the harder-to-get oil. This is what many people say will solve our problems. There's tons and tons and tons of hard-to-get oil, and we know where it is. We haven't extracted the oil from it because it's expensive to do so, and why bother with all these cheap wells? The concept is that since supply can't meet demand, the price of oil is high enough to the point that this oil is worthwhile enough to extract.
What's the problem? Not only is it expensive to extract, it's hard to extract. This is not liquid oil. This is trace oils bound within rock and sand. It takes tons of water, electricity, and time to extract the oil. This means that the industry is limited to the resources it has to extract this hard-to-get oil, and it is also limited on the rate of investment they feel like making towards this process. Right now the investment is not nearly enough to increase production in order to account for the diminishing production of easy-to-get oil.
So the situation of today is not necessarily a peak, but a downward-sloping plateau of oil production. The hard-to-get oil is not going to make up for the cheap stuff, therefore there is a decreasing supply. Demand is not helping, as India and China want a fair share of the oil. The result is increasing gas prices.
How much longer will the gas prices increase? A difficult question to answer, but my guess is things will start to cool down after August. This is when the summer driving season starts to finish up, and demand begins to lessen. How high will they get? I can't imagine them going beyond $5.50 a gallon as the max for the summer. My prediction is that gas will reach $5.25 and either stagnate or drop to within $4.00-$5.00. But this is only (in my opinion) temporary. Next year's prices may be in danger of hitting $6.00 per gallon and beyond. The problem with being past peak production of oil is demand outstrips supply rapidly. Predictions are tough to get accurate when such a massive change in conditions occur.
So what can you do to decrease your usage of gasoline? Everyone probably knows to double up trips to the store, carpool, drive slower, coast to stop signs, etc. But what else can you to decrease your usage of gasoline? Here are some tips that will not only save you money, but will be better for the environment anyway.
1. Lawn. Your lawn must be mowed. 100 million Americans mow their lawns. If it only takes 2 gallons of gasoline to mow a lawn per year, that is still 200 million gallons of gas! If everyone reduced the size of their lawns by half, we could reduce demand for gasoline by 100 million gallons of gas. Of course, you could eliminate your lawn entirely and instead plant low-maintenance native species. Or you could buy an electric mower which makes less noise and is cheaper to maintain.
2. Powdered Drinks. You buy stuff at the store. Trucks bring the stuff to the store. They use gasoline. If you buy less stuff (in terms of weight) at the store, you are reducing the amount of weight being transported, and thus reducing the gasoline requirement for that transportation. Powdered drinks are an amazingly easy way to save money and reduce gasoline demand. The majority of the weight in drinks like gatorade, etc. are from the water in them. Powdered drinks are cheaper to transport, and are far more friendly to the environment. By using tap water, you will be saving massive amounts of money.
3. Use tap water. Tap water is cheap. Very cheap. Buying bottled water is something like 400 times more expensive than using tap water (I might be using a conservative estimate). You're paying for plastic and gasoline. If you don't like tap water, get a filter. If you don't like fluoride, get a fluoride filter (bottled water is usually tap water anyway, so whatever).
4. Take the bus. This may seem obvious, but still many people ignore this option for a variety of reasons. Just try it. If you haven't taken the bus before, try taking the bus for one week straight. Then, switch back to your car and see if you think it's worth it. Try this again every 6 months to see if gas prices convince you.
5. Make a compost. No matter how you see it, you pay a company to pick up yard waste and dump it miles away. This is actually precious stuff. A good year of decomposition will turn this into delicious fertilizer for your backyard. By creating a compost, you are reducing the weight these yard waste trucks are carrying around, while additionally getting free fertilizer that you don't have to buy at the store (which has to import via truck... the gasoline cycle goes on and on). Additionally, if you want to save a little on the water bill, you can go out and take a piss on your compost for added bonus (very nutritious).
6. Grow Fruits/Veggies. If you have a deck or a backyard, you have enough room to grow a good deal of food. It can take little to no effort at all really. Tomato plants, apple trees, pea pod plants, string beans, strawberries, zucchini, pear trees, cherry trees, and others are all VERY EASY to grow in the northwest, and provide plenty of bonus food. The most time you'll be spending is watering and picking the food. But hey, it's virtually free, you have to pick your food at the supermarket anyway, and it saves gas!
Well, that's all for now. You might be wondering if this would actually do much to lower demand. If 50% of Americans did it, it sure as hell would. Now this isn't ideal, but that's the problem of the common man. We can all do our part, promote it, and save money in the process. If you don't even feel like doing any of this, talking about it to others will still create followers and you'll indirectly profit. I hope this was worth reading!
You are most likely wondering why gasoline prices are rising so rapidly. You probably know it has to do with the price of oil, and maybe something about the Middle East. Here's the scoop: oil is a finite resource on this planet, a "fossil fuel." There's only so much of it in the ground, and the easiest-to-reach has already been reached for. Sure, there are still more undiscovered wells that are easy to extract, but there are not enough being discovered to make up for the the ones that are just now being depleted. This means the oil production forms a sort of peak, and we've reached the peak now. The easy discoveries are decreasing, and we will never be able to produce as much cheap oil again.
But then there's the harder-to-get oil. This is what many people say will solve our problems. There's tons and tons and tons of hard-to-get oil, and we know where it is. We haven't extracted the oil from it because it's expensive to do so, and why bother with all these cheap wells? The concept is that since supply can't meet demand, the price of oil is high enough to the point that this oil is worthwhile enough to extract.
What's the problem? Not only is it expensive to extract, it's hard to extract. This is not liquid oil. This is trace oils bound within rock and sand. It takes tons of water, electricity, and time to extract the oil. This means that the industry is limited to the resources it has to extract this hard-to-get oil, and it is also limited on the rate of investment they feel like making towards this process. Right now the investment is not nearly enough to increase production in order to account for the diminishing production of easy-to-get oil.
So the situation of today is not necessarily a peak, but a downward-sloping plateau of oil production. The hard-to-get oil is not going to make up for the cheap stuff, therefore there is a decreasing supply. Demand is not helping, as India and China want a fair share of the oil. The result is increasing gas prices.
How much longer will the gas prices increase? A difficult question to answer, but my guess is things will start to cool down after August. This is when the summer driving season starts to finish up, and demand begins to lessen. How high will they get? I can't imagine them going beyond $5.50 a gallon as the max for the summer. My prediction is that gas will reach $5.25 and either stagnate or drop to within $4.00-$5.00. But this is only (in my opinion) temporary. Next year's prices may be in danger of hitting $6.00 per gallon and beyond. The problem with being past peak production of oil is demand outstrips supply rapidly. Predictions are tough to get accurate when such a massive change in conditions occur.
So what can you do to decrease your usage of gasoline? Everyone probably knows to double up trips to the store, carpool, drive slower, coast to stop signs, etc. But what else can you to decrease your usage of gasoline? Here are some tips that will not only save you money, but will be better for the environment anyway.
1. Lawn. Your lawn must be mowed. 100 million Americans mow their lawns. If it only takes 2 gallons of gasoline to mow a lawn per year, that is still 200 million gallons of gas! If everyone reduced the size of their lawns by half, we could reduce demand for gasoline by 100 million gallons of gas. Of course, you could eliminate your lawn entirely and instead plant low-maintenance native species. Or you could buy an electric mower which makes less noise and is cheaper to maintain.
2. Powdered Drinks. You buy stuff at the store. Trucks bring the stuff to the store. They use gasoline. If you buy less stuff (in terms of weight) at the store, you are reducing the amount of weight being transported, and thus reducing the gasoline requirement for that transportation. Powdered drinks are an amazingly easy way to save money and reduce gasoline demand. The majority of the weight in drinks like gatorade, etc. are from the water in them. Powdered drinks are cheaper to transport, and are far more friendly to the environment. By using tap water, you will be saving massive amounts of money.
3. Use tap water. Tap water is cheap. Very cheap. Buying bottled water is something like 400 times more expensive than using tap water (I might be using a conservative estimate). You're paying for plastic and gasoline. If you don't like tap water, get a filter. If you don't like fluoride, get a fluoride filter (bottled water is usually tap water anyway, so whatever).
4. Take the bus. This may seem obvious, but still many people ignore this option for a variety of reasons. Just try it. If you haven't taken the bus before, try taking the bus for one week straight. Then, switch back to your car and see if you think it's worth it. Try this again every 6 months to see if gas prices convince you.
5. Make a compost. No matter how you see it, you pay a company to pick up yard waste and dump it miles away. This is actually precious stuff. A good year of decomposition will turn this into delicious fertilizer for your backyard. By creating a compost, you are reducing the weight these yard waste trucks are carrying around, while additionally getting free fertilizer that you don't have to buy at the store (which has to import via truck... the gasoline cycle goes on and on). Additionally, if you want to save a little on the water bill, you can go out and take a piss on your compost for added bonus (very nutritious).
6. Grow Fruits/Veggies. If you have a deck or a backyard, you have enough room to grow a good deal of food. It can take little to no effort at all really. Tomato plants, apple trees, pea pod plants, string beans, strawberries, zucchini, pear trees, cherry trees, and others are all VERY EASY to grow in the northwest, and provide plenty of bonus food. The most time you'll be spending is watering and picking the food. But hey, it's virtually free, you have to pick your food at the supermarket anyway, and it saves gas!
Well, that's all for now. You might be wondering if this would actually do much to lower demand. If 50% of Americans did it, it sure as hell would. Now this isn't ideal, but that's the problem of the common man. We can all do our part, promote it, and save money in the process. If you don't even feel like doing any of this, talking about it to others will still create followers and you'll indirectly profit. I hope this was worth reading!