Engines also last longer with natural gas than they do with gasoline.

Problem is if everyone starts to do this, the cost will go up.

One way to prevent this is to recognize that natural gas currently is used to make electricity. If we would get more other sources, including nuclear, then we would have enough to supply us with all of our automobile needs.

Actually, the only car manufacturer currently making natural gas vehicles is honda. our government restrictions on conversion kits are also too expensive to make the switch a viable option. we need the government to lessen the restrictions so we can transition to natural gas as a nation. it is also important to note that natural gas is manufactured in the US so we would become more independent. anywho, hope we can make this switch eventually.

Think Ahead.

You are absolutely right about the use of natural gas for other purposes. We have the same problem now with using our food supply to fuel our vehicles, causing food prices to skyrocket. If we diverted our natural gas supply to millions of cars, our heating bills would be out of control.

Use of our own petroleum supplies would decrease our dependence on foreign oil supplies, as well as using the cleanest, safest source of energy, which you mentioned, nuclear.

You guys are finally starting to understand what I've been saying for a year around here: Basing energy on finite resources - ANY finite resources - is a bad idea and will eventually come back to haunt you.

Life was great until the world's demand for oil exceeded its ability to produce it. Switching to CNG would alleviate that....until 50 years down the road we'd be back in the same boat we're in now. Same story with coal, propane, basically anything combustible. Combustibles are actually quite rare on earth - far less than 1% of the earth's mass is combustible. We need to get away from combustion.

Water, sunlight, wind, and heat are not finite resources. It's time for us to harness those things for ALL our energy needs, including transportation. We have a chance to be a bigger part of history than we realize.

Electricity:
Lead Acid Battery - 50 W-hr/kg
Nickle-metal Hydride - 110 W-hr/kg
Lithium-ion - 150 W-hr/kg
Gasoline - 12,722 W-hr/kg

Batteries are getting better, but still have a ways to go!

Independence from oil & finding anything alternative that will replace the BILLIONS of gallons used will never happen.

Technology,

Who said batteries are the answer?

Do a little research and you'll find there are plenty of technologies out there that can store electrical power without batteries. And some of those technologies are more mature than you think - some you're already using and don't even know it! Widespread acceptance is the only hurdle that remains, really.

Complete independence from oil WILL happen - it has to. What don't you understand about the term "finite resource"? Either we will become 100% free from oil sooner (by choice) or later (by force).

There will always be a need for oil. Lubrication and such. What we need to shift away from is its use for fuel. Weather or not heavy equipment and large airplanes will or could shift away from oil as fuel is highly speculative.

The biggest hangup is redtape! When any group wants to build a new technology any where someone is always againt wherever it is or whatever it is. Change is painful and our gas prices amount to cruel and unusal punishment but so for most are still driving with gas and paying for it.

O2 I don't know where you've gotten your info but the world's demand for oil has NOT exceeded its ability to produce it. Good old OPEC has restricted their output and civil war has disrupted production in an African nation. Brazil recently discovered a huge new oil supply off its coast and is working to tap into it (it's 5000 feet under the ocean floor which will make it more challenging). There are also plenty of untapped reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, Canada, Alaska, and other parts of the USA but the environmentalists are fighting against exploration and drilling. A barrel of crude could be and should be a lot cheaper than its is.

Yes, 100% free from oil.

Lubrication does not require oil. Biological oils can be used for lubrication, and regular old motor oil can be made synthetically in large quantities (Germany fueled its war machine in WW2 almost entirely with synthetic oil). It won't happen in our lifetime, but sometime in the far future manking will be completely independent of oil that you drill out of the ground.

The first step is to get our passenger vehicles converted to electricity. Big rigs, heavy equipment, and machinery are next. After that, aircraft - yes, there WILL be electric aircraft propulsion in the future.

Yes, oil is a finite resource, and eventually we will need to use alternative energy supplies. However, our finite supply of oil has been estimated at anywhere from 250 to 750 years of projected demand. Global warming activists would have us believe that using combustibles is destroying the earth, ignoring any facts that indicate otherwise. And that's why the liberals today want us to stop using oil and oppose every effort to extract it, refine it, transport it and use it. Our shortage is artificial and based on a controversial theory. I fully support employing alternative energy sources, but let's allow the free market to decide which is most efficient and effective rather than politicians and special interest groups such as the Sierra Club with their own objectives. It is certainly possible to harness other energy sources -- geothermal, wave action, solar, wind, nuclear, hydroelectric, etc. Industry is striving hard to make viable alternatives to the gasoline powered automobile, and whoever succeeds will make billions, so there is plenty of incentive in the free market. To avoid $5 or $10 a gallon gasoline we must drill and refine more oil. More nuclear energy is also realistic.

"Water, sunlight, wind, and heat are not finite resources."

They also have such a low energy density that they don't make sense to use.

I have a question or a statement. If the oil companies were not allowed to sell oil that they get from U.S. oilfields on the open market this would help reduce our dependiency on the Arab oil. Why doens't the government step in and set a limit on the amount of money the oil companies can make for oil taken out of U.S. oilfields and prohibit the selling of U.S. oil to other countries?

This is why the oil companies have made record profits not because of the price of gasoline.

Of course if the price of oil drops then all these alternatives will not be cost effective. Food prices would drop, gas prices would drop, transportation prices would drop so why dont the politicians in Washington take care of this situation? Because of political contributions of the oil companies to their re-ellection campaigns.

"Why doens't the government step in and set a limit on the amount of money the oil companies can make for oil taken out of U.S. oilfields and prohibit the selling of U.S. oil to other countries?"

Because price controls ALWAYS lead to shortages.

"This is why the oil companies have made record profits not because of the price of gasoline."

Oil companies "record profits" are nothing compared to the margins that computer companies like Apple and Intel were making. And frankly, it's about time.

It amazes how when in the early 80s, when oil went to $10/barrel, nobody cared about oil companies or the thousands who lost jobs because of the oil bust. If it had been airlines having the problem, there would have been a flood of subsidy. Now that oil companies are finally making a decent profit, people act as if it were a sin or something.

The ONLY reason people complain about the price of petroleum now is because it was absurdly cheap for a long time. Last time I checked the vending machine, bottled water was still more expensive than gasoline. Why the complaining?

G,

There are two reasons people are complaining about the cost of gas and not the cost of bottled water.

1, Bottled water is not a necessity. If the price of bottled water is too high, people will just drink out of the tap. But gas is a necessity. We all have to get to work, and for most of us public transportation is not an option, or uses just as much gas and therefore costs just as much.

2, we have no options besides buying gas. Cars don't run on applesauce, you know. When water gets too expensive, people always have the option of drinking juice, soda, etc.

The last thing this world needs is another oil apologist. Apparently we've got one here.

"However, our finite supply of oil has been estimated at anywhere from 250 to 750 years of projected demand."

You are off by a factor of about 1000

According to the US Energy Information administration, the total US known recoverable oil reserves as of the end of 2006 were 20,972 million barrels. This is a roughly 1000 DAY supply for US consumption. Go ahead and look it up for yourself.

We are not producing domestic oil because we already did and it's almost gone. Environmentalists and Climate Change activists have almost nothing to do with it.
-lowonoil

"1, Bottled water is not a necessity. If the price of bottled water is too high, people will just drink out of the tap. But gas is a necessity."

Gasoline is not an entitlement. It is a commodity, produced at great expense, requiring billions of dollar's worth of infrastructure, thousands of highly educated scientists and engineers, tremendous financial risk, and, not to mention, the labor of tens of thousands of people that work very hard to feed their families, for whom the current boom is a godsend.

"The last thing this world needs is another oil apologist. Apparently we've got one here."

An "oil apologist"? As a geologist I do know a little about the industry. And how markets work.

G, did you use any oil to get to work today? If the answer is yes, then oil is a necessity for you, just like it is for me. I can't get to work without oil and I would lose my job. Yes, oil is a necessity. That's why people are angry.

I'm glad that you as a geologist know a little about the industry. As an engineer I also know a little about the industry, and what a crock it is, and that fortunately we won't have to deal with it for much longer, as far as personal transportation is concerned.

"G, did you use any oil to get to work today? If the answer is yes, then oil is a necessity for you, just like it is for me. I can't get to work without oil and I would lose my job. Yes, oil is a necessity. That's why people are angry."

I used oil in my commute this morning, but when I bought it last night I didn't do so while holding a grudge to the oil companies or to anyone else (not even the gov't which makes a larger profit on oil than anyone), though I did buy the cheapest available.

"As an engineer I also know a little about the industry, and what a crock it is, and that fortunately we won't have to deal with it for much longer, as far as personal transportation is concerned."

As an engineer I trust you will stop complaining and instead get right on developing a new, cheaper, and practical means of vehicle propulsion. Since nobody has done that yet, it's probably harder than it looks.

I remember in high school seeing a presentation about a guy in England who had a car which ran on Sheep Dung, it's bi-product was "H2O" if you can believe that! That was in the late 70's! There is no way we don't have the technology! Of course we do, it's been bought up by the big companies so you haven't had any other options! Wake up America and smell the coffee, it isn't like this stuff hasn't been around for 30 or more years it hasn't been developed because of Greed and Wealth and Corporate Power and even YOUR OWN GOVERNMENT!

As long as we don't burn up our food suppy, I don't care what options are out there, just make it happen.

"As an engineer I trust you will stop complaining and instead get right on developing a new, cheaper, and practical means of vehicle propulsion."

Who says I'm not?

"Since nobody has done that yet, it's probably harder than it looks."

Actually no. According to something somebody posted last week, cars that run on compressed air will be available in the U.S. in 2010. Tick tock tick tock, G......your oil career isn't far from going belly up.

"
Actually no. According to something somebody posted last week, cars that run on compressed air will be available in the U.S. in 2010."

Compressed air. Interesting.

What energy source are you going to run the compressors on?

"Tick tock tick tock, G......your oil career isn't far from going belly up."

I'm in the environmental sector actually. But I'm not worried about my fellow professionals in the petroleum sector. They'll be doing just fine for a long time to come. Even if you replace oil as an energy source, there's still that little matter of it being the raw material that essentially forms the basis of our modern society. Drugs, agrochemicals, pavement, lubricants, there will still be a need for it.

"Who says I'm not?"

If you're getting your information on alternative fuels from "something somebody posted here last week" I have my doubts. If I'm wrong, good luck to you nonetheless. I enjoy travel as much as everyone else. But the facts remain that people are angry about the cost of oil because they've been spoiled by big cars and years of undervalued oil. Nobody forced Americans to choose to drive hummers or live 50 miles from work.

Oh gee said: "According to something somebody posted last week, cars that run on compressed air will be available in the U.S. in 2010."
Well according to something somebody posted right here this afternoon, we have 250 to 750 years of oil left. So why should we care about stupid compressed air cars?
Those who are fond of their delusions will always find someone to re-enforce them on the internets.

Scarce and expensive fuel is the reality. The cheap and abundant stuff of the last century, that was the fantasy. You will be very disappointed if you are waiting for things to go back to the way they were.

G's comment to even hit the outer ring of the target. I didnt say set a limit on production , I said set a limit on price. If the government set prices and prohibited the selling of U.S. oil outside the country this would help take care of the shortages of fuel in the U.S.. This would lower the price of fuel in the U.S.

And by the way who does the oil belong to anyway. It belongs to the government. The oil companies just have leases to get the oil. The only reason the alternative fuel sources are even being talked or explored now is because the cost of oil is so high.

G must own oil stocks.

Did he stop to think that a person making minimum wage now spends 2 hours of wages a day just to get to work. That leaves 30.00 for their family to live on.

>>Use of our own petroleum supplies would decrease our dependence on foreign oil supplies, as well as using the cleanest, safest source of energy, which you mentioned, nuclear.<<

We have some 200 years worth of coal. We need to learn how to gasify it and sequester CO2.

>>Water, sunlight, wind, and heat are not finite resources. It's time for us to harness those things for ALL our energy needs, including transportation. We have a chance to be a bigger part of history than we realize.<<

Tell us, how does one burn water?

>>Complete independence from oil WILL happen - it has to. What don't you understand about the term "finite resource"? Either we will become 100% free from oil sooner (by choice) or later (by force).<<

There are some theories that oil does not come from dead plants and animals. Developing...

"I didnt say set a limit on production , I said set a limit on price."

As I told you: price control ALWAYS leads to shortage. It is an axiom of economics.

"If the government set prices and prohibited the selling of U.S. oil outside the country this would help take care of the shortages of fuel in the U.S.."

No it wouldn't, since the US is a net importer of oil. It might encourage other countries to sell less to us, though.

"Did he stop to think that a person making minimum wage now spends 2 hours of wages a day just to get to work. That leaves 30.00 for their family to live on."

It doesn't matter what you or I think. Nobody can just snap their fingers and make enough oil to cover all demand. We cannot. It is beyond human control.

If gas is too expensive, don't buy it. When production doesn't increase, a slack in the demand is the only thing that can drive down prices. If a person can't afford gas, that person should live closer to work, drive a more efficient car, or use public transport.

"Last time I checked the vending machine, bottled water was still more expensive than gasoline. Why the complaining?"

But bottled water won't work in the gas tank nearly as well as gas.

For those that remember the 70s doesn't this all sound like deja vu, all over again?(its a joke) We have known this was coming for over three decades and we did nothing about it, and we won't until we are economically forced to. Natural gas will put us in the same position as gasoline. The near future belongs to the plug-in electric autos and nuclear power to supply the electricity. The distant future will be more alternative sources and perhaps hydrogen. Hydrogen however is nothing more than an inefficient battery. Nothing will really change until economic necessity forces us to change. Global Warming is being used as the bogyman to frighten us.

---Actually no. According to something somebody posted last week, cars that run on compressed air will be available in the U.S. in 2010. Tick tock tick tock, G......your oil career isn't far from going belly up.---

But where does one get the compressed air? I suppose one could use a hand air-pump.

"
But bottled water won't work in the gas tank nearly as well as gas."

Yeah, but have you ever tried drinking gas? DON'T!

>>When production doesn't increase, a slack in the demand is the only thing that can drive down prices.<<

A slack in demand more than likely means a slack in production. OPEC tries to maintain a balance between production and world demand so as to keep the price where they want it. It took awhile, but they finally figured out how to maximize profits.

In other words, we can cut back all we want but OPEC will just cut production to match it.

We should all be grateful to the rabid environmentalist for their gift to all of us of high energy prices. What did we expect would happen when environmentalist stop all oil exploration and drilling and no new refineries? Folks, there is no oil shortage!!! It is in Alaska, off shore and in hundreds of other places. But, of course, we can't go get it because it "might" harm a plant of a caribou. The price we pay for environmental bunk!

>>Yeah, but have you ever tried drinking gas? DON'T!<<

Too late. I "drank" some trying to siphon.

Next week I depart on a 4000 mile trip along the west coast to do some research.

Try that using anything but gasoline or diesel!