Bio-fuel will fix a problem and create a bigger one. Suddenly, farmland that you could buy for a song will increase in value. Therefore, all land will increase its value, making housing even more expensive. Water reservoirs will be used to irrigate the sudden increase of crops. Cereal price will rise; just wait and see how much you will have to pay for your cereal box, sliced breath, cookies or Big Mac. Not to mention beer, whiskey, even meat as a big part of farm animals are feeded with cereals. Yes, we know that poor countries will have a big time buying basic food from abroad when rich countries have cash in hand, but it is not our fault that their soil is not good to produce any edible thing.
So it is better to give your money to your national farmers than the arab oil producers? Does it make any difference? Your national farmers will not probably be "national" and won't invest the money in the country, because the cereal price will be controlled by big cartels. Little "farmer giles" will have to sell the cereal at whatever price the big companies decide, and they will sell the bio-fuel at just a 10% less than regular gas because they already know what's the maximum that people is willing to pay, regardless of how much the manufacturing cost is. Big companies will pocket the profits, not farmers, small or big. In fact, it will probably be the same oil companies the ones that will manufacture and distribute the new fuel, but this time they won't buy the raw materials to the arabs.
The only good thing of this is that if the arabs find out that there is an alternative, they will reduce their selling price. But again, that will not go into the consumer pockets because the oil companies will pocket the profits.
If you have trouble making ends meet, the solution is not to increase your income, but to reduce your expenditure. The solution to the fuel shortage is not to find another source, but to change our habits. If we don't want to depend on the arabs, the solution is not to find a "lesser evil" than the arabs, but to change our lifestyle so we don't depend -much- on them.
The arabs have the "scarcity factor". They can control the price as long as the scarce product is needed. If you find another source, you are transferring the scarcity factor to somebody else, and as soon as he realizes the power he have, will use it. The only way to reduce the scarcity factor is to reduce the demand so the ratio availability vs demand increases for our benefit.
Just by having fuel economy in mind when buying a new car, rationalizing our driving habits, leaving the car for commuting and once-a-week shopping, and using public transport whenever possible, will put money in your pockets from gas saved.
Do the following. Find out the residual value of your car after five years. Substract it from the acquisition price, including the interest money. Add the 5-year insurance cost. Divide all by 1825. That's what your car costs you a day just for sitting in the garage, not counting the price of products for cleaning, accesories etc.
Now divide your last service bill amount by the number of miles between services. Divide the cost of your tires between the miles needed to wore them out. Divide the price of a gallon of gas by the average mpg of your car. Add the three numbers. Now you have roughly how much does your car cost per mile.
Multiply this last figures by the number of miles you commute every day. Add what your car costs you every day for sitting in the garage. That's how much does it costs you to commute by car.
Divide your weekly after-taxes salary by the number of hours you work a week. Divide the cost of your daily commute by that last figure. That is the time you have to work every day just to pay the cost of your daily commute.
Add the duration of your commute to the time you have to work every day to pay for it. That is the amount of time a day you waste in nothing productive FOR YOU. During that time a day you are paying your car manufacturer, the oil companies, the arabs, your boss, and the government, but you ain't paying yourself a dime.
Now say that you commute by public transportation. The price is exactly the ticket fare. But your car is still sitting in the garage. Following the same logic than before, find out how much time a day you need to work to pay for your idle car and your ticket fare.
Now add your commuting time to the time you need to work every day to pay for those costs. If the figure is lower than the previous one, it is most cost-effective to commute by public transportation, because you spend less time paying others and start to pay yourself sooner.
If you have read up to this, thanks for your patience....
