Gas Money
GoGreenCharleston.org has some local options to green up your driving.
The Mustang is not the first to be puzzled by the presentation of corn produced with ethanol as our saving grace:
Producing a gallon of ethanol costs 57 cents more than making a gallon of gasoline yet it has less than 2/3 the energy (BTU) value of gasoline. You’re losing in both directions. Your mileage goes down, but your costs go up. Production of ethanol when blended in gasoline is an energy loss and it requires fossil fuels not solar power or windmills to produce. The ethanol used in the US to dilute our gasoline is produced by corn, the most heavily subsidized crop in the US.
Jason has a plain english explanation of a cause of hyperinflation:
Let’s assume that Bob and Phil are stranded on a desert island. They have divided the island down the center and each has control over valuable resources. Bob has control over all food and water, while Phil has control over all plants needed to fuel fire, build shelter, and other things (it’s an odd little island). Since both are in possession of numerous resources that have proven hard to barter over, they have agreed that clam shells are a good currency because of their surprising lack of availability.
Eric looks at the impacts of the rising cost of fuel:
I have no hard numbers to back it up, but even the cost of pork & beans has increased to reflect the cost of transporting it from the piggery or wherever they process it to your grocery store. Everything’s sent by truck, rail, ship, or submarine, so there’s a cost right there. And since no businessman in his right mind is going to “eat” that extra cost, you’ll notice the difference at the checkout counter. I tell you, there’s no escape.
Agricola shares an excerpt from a Heritage Foundation article on world energy production.
(Photo Credit Windviel)