[AT] Gasoline $..what's in the future?

[HaliganBar at aol.com]

Regular is $2.43 per gallon here in western Mass. as of this morning. All of 
the fuel pumps in the state have signs on them stating that the fuel contains 
10% ethanol.

I really like the idea of biodiesel and believe that the idea will become 
very popular as fuel prices increase. Hybrid vehicles are nice but I think small 
diesel technology has huge untapped potential. The VW TDI gets 40-50mpg with 
no need to ever change out a giant battery or control high voltages.

This morning I was watching CNN and they were discussing the increase in fuel 
prices. Some of the statistics they quoted were Gas prices of $4/ gallon by 
next summer and $5/gallon the summer after that. Right now the world uses 84 
million barrels of oil per day and the world production is only at 85 
million/day. In the US our refinerys are operating at 95% of capacity and it takes 10 
years to build a refinery(including all the paperwork/studies).

What scares me is what will happen to the prices of EVERYTHING when fuel gets 
that expensive? You know the increased price of shipping will have to be 
passed to the consumer...in addition to the price increase for our own fuel. I 
know that there no chance that my salary will increase to keep up with that sort 
of inflation. I'm almost positive that I''l be looking for a second part-time 
job next year as well as a good used motorcycle.

Thanks for letting me ramble.
Karl