Oil Forever ? ( I Think Not )
By Ed Faust, Fri Dec 9th

Oil Forever ? We all know that this country needs to reduceits dependency on Foreign oil. The question is how (and howlong). Recently Ford Motor CEO Bill Ford addressed his concerns,perhaps leading one to question how long it will be beforedemand exceeds production. Also; one hopes that his calls forEnergy summits are of value. Perhaps Mr. Fords concerns willnudge the members of congress and the white house to get offtheir duffs and adopt some energy policies that will make usless dependent and not locked into an inflated oil price venue.I'm sure Mr. Ford realizes they developed the Gas Guzzlers andsome adjustments need to be made.

Lets look at some facts: Foreign oil dependency has not beenreduced. New regulations simply slowed the growth. The averagegas mileage for new vehicles has gone down for the last 15years. Technological advances did not improve efficiency duringthese years. Manufacturers created Faster, Larger and morePowerful vehicles. Should the people who choose to continuebuying these gas guzzlers be charged higher fees on certainitems to offset the loss of reserves, etc? (Probably won'thappen).Yes; Demand was there for these vehicles and still isfor some models, but these types of vehicles have proven to be aburden on our oil imports and reserves. If you feel you deservea Credit, there is an Energy Bill Credit for buyers of Hybridvehicles in 2006 (limited amount).

The high cost of Oil, etc. will have a huge impact on manyconsumers this heating season with many experts predictingheating bills expected to surpass last years by as much as 50 to75 percent. This places a huge burden on many households (lowerincomes, etc) and always comes at the time of the year when theycan least afford it. Gas prices (at this writing) have come downsomewhat but still quite high by most standards. Speaking of Gasprices, some states are asking for a vote each year in order tojustify a Gas Tax increase , no increase, or would you believe -a decrease ? Well, the latter would probably not come into play.

Many question why we don't have an alternative to Fossil fuel.Well; there is. Usually the problem is they are to expensive andor simply just not available to some. One such fuel would beethanol - from Grain. Lets look at one particular form ofEthanol - E85. E85 is a blend of 85 percent Ethanol and just 15percent gasoline. Just that statement alone sounds good.

Butwait, Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline, produced in our owncountry, renewable, good for the environment, (reducesemissions) and reduces our dependence on foreign oil. E85 canalso be purchased for less - some areas as much as 40 to 50cents a gallon cheaper than we pay for other gasolines. So whatis the problem ? E85 can only be burned in certain vehicles andis not available in many areas although distribution points areincreasing. This (E85) seems to be one of the more attractivealternatives at this time and we can hope for further use of ourresources. Another form is Hydrogen and Fuel Cells. Fuel Cellsare like batteries. Fuels similar to Hydrogen gas or Methane arecombined with Oxygen. The result - Electricity. Some cities aretesting the Fuel Cell powered vehicles but it would appear thatthis form of power is more costly than anyone (lets say most)could afford, at least for now.

Some interesting figures on Oil production (and probably higherat this writing).

World production ------------- 75 Million Barrels a Day 27Billion Barrels a Year US Consumption -------------- 19 MillionBarrels a Day 7 Billion Barrels a Year US Production----------------- 8 Million Barrels a Day ( a shortfall of 11Million Barrels).

Question - Can we run out of Oil? Surely; but probably not inthe near future. If we estimate our consumption, reserves, etc,it appears we have enough oil to last us somewhere in the 25 to30 years area. This assumes present consumption. If we consumemore, we have less time. If we are more conservative, that givesus more time. Many people would not know we (US) are the secondlargest producer of Oil(very close to Saudi Arabia'sproduction). Reserves are also very interesting. Many peoplealso would not believe our neighbor to the north (Canada) hasthe second highest amount of oil reserves (Saudi Arabia isnumber one).A survey done recently estimates that there arethree or four times the amount of oil reserves we have todaywaiting to be pumped to the surface. We have the time to developan alternative means of Fuel, Power, etc. Business leaders alongwith the Government can make it happen if they work together. Itwill never be easy but we have no alternative and Wait and Seeis not an option.

About the author: Ed Faust is a small business owner and freelance writer Ed canbe reached at edco10@msn.com and site (www.worksathome.4t.com).