It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas

As everyone has likely noticed, the price of gasoline has gone up. Long gone are the blissful days of sub-dollar gasoline back in 2002. Some gas stations in Clemson are charging above $2.80 for a gallon of regular, and the summer driving season hasn’t even hit full swing. Increased summer demand, Iranian nuclear fears, Nigerian oil shutdowns, hurricanes, panicking futures traders, OPEC controls, and, of course, Iraq have all been factors in the increase. Possibly the largest part of the rise in prices has been due to increased global oil demand, especially from China. The Wall Street Journal reported that China’s oil usage averaged 6.6 million barrels per day in 2005 and will likely grow to 7 million barrels per day. This pales in comparison to the United States’ roughly 20 million barrel per day usage, but China’s use has risen sharply in the last few years and continues to rise at a significant rate.

$72 for a barrel of oil still doesn’t pass the inflation-adjusted $80 price record for oil set in 1980, but it’s getting to the point where people are starting to change their habits. American gasoline consumption is slowing: since gas went over $2.50, I know I’ve been doing everything I can to cut back on driving and walk or use the CAT bus. The DOE reports that US gas use has increased .9% this year compared to 1.4% over the same time last year, but there’s a limit to how much excess driving people can cut back without making significant changes to their lives.

As the price of gasoline rises, alternatives to gasoline are becoming more and more cost effective. There are two alternatives that anyone can use, right now: ethanol and biodiesel.

Ethanol can be made from fermenting a variety of plants, including America’s specialty, corn. Ethanol can be mixed into gasoline at low ratios for use in all modern cars. If you read the fine print, you can find that some gas stations in the Clemson area are currently selling gasoline with five to ten percent ethanol mixed in.

E85 is the designation for an 85% ethanol alcohol, 15% gasoline fuel mixture. It is being sold at a number of gas stations in South Carolina right now, and sells for 10-15 cents per gallon cheaper than regular. It burns cooler than gasoline and may give you an increase in power. However, it will likely decrease your mileage. You can’t use it in most cars, but if you have a “flex fuel” vehicle, you can fuel up with any mixture of E85 and gasoline. Ford, Chevrolet, Mazda, Dodge, and a few other manufacturers have been selling flex-fuel vehicles since 2000, so check to see if your vehicle is compatible. Unfortunately, there are no commercially sold kits to convert other cars for E85 use.

Biodiesel is a fuel made from processed vegetable oil or animal fat. It can be used in any diesel vehicle. It’s a little harder to find than ethanol, but can be found at a number of South Carolina gas stations. It is commonly sold as a mixture with traditional petrodiesel and normally runs at the same price as regular diesel. As an added incentive, it will make your exhaust smell like French fries.

If you’re a budding chemist with some motivation, it is possible to make your own biodiesel. Many people collect waste fry oil from restaurants and build biodiesel reactors out of old water heaters, claiming to produce it for less than $1 a gallon. It’s not a simple task, but with a bit of research it can be done and there’s an active Internet community devoted to the subject.

Ethanol and biodiesel have additional environmental advantages. Both are “carbon neutral,” meaning that their use in vehicles only lets out the amount of carbon dioxide that would have been consumed by the plants they came from. Running on ethanol or biodiesel significantly reduces emissions compared to traditional fuels.

In all likelihood, no alternative fuel on the market today is going to save you significant money. Chances are, depreciation on your vehicle is a higher fraction of your automobile expenses than the recent price increases, and neither ethanol nor biodiesel is selling for much cheaper than traditional fuels. However, they’re both a little more cost-independent from the volatile price of gasoline and a little more environmentally friendly.