There are a number of folks in this forum that claim U.S. interest in Iraq is merely based on the amount of oil we will be able to get from there. While I hate to think my country would do that to another, I would be lying to say I hadn't considered it (THIS IS NOT UP FOR DEBATE HERE).

While it would be nice to see more grants towards research and development of alternative energy sources, that is not the case (since we're in the habit of granting such money; in theory, of course, the idea of government grants irks me - but that is for a different post).

Considering the aforementioned, my questions for you all are:

1. How much oil/gas do you consume per week? (By volume, not cost, please);
2. Are you prepared to give up oil, either voluntarily or because of shortages?; and
3. Have you done anything recently to reduce your consumption of oil and gas?

I walk to and from work everyday, and my significant other works approximately two miles away. I would say that between Christoph and myself per month, we go through 20 gallons of gas and one quart of oil.



Yes, but I think it would be difficult to give it up entirely. There are certain tasks that are much easier to get done with the use of an automobile, such as grocery shopping.



Yes. We intentionally relocated to the area in which we work to reduce our intake of gasoline and oil and to save the time that it takes to commute.

I will reply with more figures in the near future, but I want to point out that there is more than just fuel for cars involved in this. What about heating, and all of the rest of what goes with it?

Good topic, by the way.

I went to the following website to check how many miles per gallon I should be getting with my car, and it led me to believe that perhaps my figures were off a bit. I think I may be using less than what I thought I was, which is great, but it's perfect commentary on how unaware I can be sometimes of how much I consume.

www.fueleconomy.gov

Check it out. It has a lot of good information.

I recognize what you're saying MOUSE, but my questions were about automobile oil/gas consumption. If we do ever experience shortages, I'd like to think we would ration gas for cars before we would heat for homes.

Please feel free to start a thread on home energy usages. I think that would be a great topic

My gas comsumption depends on what I do that week. I would guess around 15 gallons of gas a week.

I have a 30 min. commute to work everyday. I've been looking for a new job that is a lot closer, but in this economy, its next to impossible. I'm just thankful to be able to put food on my table.

Sure, I would consider alternatives to gas, but I haven't seen one I'd use yet. Electric cars are ok, but don't have the HP a lot of people need or have been accustomed to.

No, haven't done anything to conserve.

--cheers

Between a Toyota Sienna and Camry, we probably use 10 gallons per week.

If city planners will design things closer together, have widely available public transportation, make it pedestrian/bike friendly, and companies allow for telecommuting, then I'm willing to give up on gas for transportation.

I haven't bought an SUV.

Our car uses very little gas...I would say no more than 10 gallons a week. I would have no problem with public transportation...I have used the bus before and had no problem with it.

I agree with Otseng about the city planning making it more bareable. I am all for cutting back and trying to phase out the dependence we have on it for transporation.

1.I track this on my credit card so it is easy...between 20 to 30 miles per mo. Vacations would of course be not be included.
We live in a very rural area. I must go 20 to 25 miles to grocery shop, use the pharmacy etc. We try to be efficient and do as much as possible on our errand days. We never leave for "town" without a cooler in the car in case of groceries that need to stay cool. Lists are important for efficiency.
2. Of course, as much as is possible if the reasons were good.
3. We have both a 4 wheel drive SUV that we use in bad weather and for "hauling" (firewood, furniture and such) and off roading which we love to do. For all other times we use the more economical sedan.

Our little foreign designed, American built car is a marvel of technology. I use between one and four gallons in an average week.



That's a bated question. In the event of fuel shortages, you are not "giving it up". You are just not getting it (gasoline, that is). Would life go on and would we survive? Sure. But would I give up my car for environmental reasons? Nope.



Nope.

Mike

OK, Mike. I concede that it is a bit slanted, but I was not trying to bate anyone (except maybe, you of course ). I'll revise my question and ask:

Would you be willing to voluntarily give up the use of gas/oil? and
If shortages happen to occur, should the government ration the amount the general public consumes or the amount they themselves consume (or both or neither)?



I would disagree. We moved closer to my office partially because you were sick of the driving, but also because it was costing us a lot in gas and oil changes.

Hmm, I dont know how much gas I use a week. Theoretically, its none, because I dont own a car. But I do get rides to and from work, but I have no idea how much volume that means.

I have given up the use of gas and oil, if we're only referring to automobiles. What else uses gas and oil? I am interested in knowing what might be restricted, and how much it would affect general activities.

And I havent done anything recently to reduce gas consumption, unless we decide to count the fact that I dont own a car and never will. Which I dont really count.

Some other personal uses of gas/oil:

- Hot water heater
- Furnace
- Kitchen stove
- Fireplace

1. 15-20 gallons/week.

2. Except for essential travel, yes.

3. Moved slightly closer to work (24 mile round-trip commute rather than 52 mile round-trip commute). Otherwise, I've always (rather than recently) replaced my air filters regularly, kept my tires inflated, combined trips as much as possible, participated in car pooling, and used cruise control as much as possible.

Also, while I've had a driver's license for over thirty years, I've only owned/used a car for about six of those years - where public transport was unavailable. I went without a car for eighteen years in Ireland (where the public transport is reliable, efficient and cheap). Here in Orlando, I used public transport for over two years, even though it meant more than three hours travel time each day (and no travel after 6pm as the public transport here is pathetic). After two years, though, we broke down and bought a car - the buses were just too unreliable.

How does a fireplace use gas and oil?

And what about electric stoves, etc? Do they use oil and gas in some round about way that doesnt make sense to me? I also thought that water heaters were electric, I am woefully uneducated about all this.

A lot of people have gas fireplaces as opposed to wood burning fireplaces. Also, I believe that Otseng was specifically referring to gas stoves. Electric stoves don't use gas and oil. I don't know much about water heaters, but I know that many of them are gas operated, as well.

Isn't gas, such as used in homes, something completely seperate than the oil we depend on from the M.E.?

Yeah, I think that's true. I guess I got sidetracked with talking about natural gas.

Hmm, where do we get our natural gas from anyways?

Okay I just did some research, and it looks like the U.S. produces 85% of the natural gas that we use. The additional 15% comes mainly from Canada.

Natural gas comprises 24% of our energy requirements. Oil accounts for 39%, and coal accounts for 23%.

I found this data at: http://www.iie.org/programs/energy/downloa...rofiles/USA.doc

Good find.

Also it says that 22% of our oil comes from Persian Gulf countries. I would've guessed it would've been higher. And the top supplier of oil to the US is Canada. I would've never guessed that either.

Here's another link with a lot of good information, specifically regarding oil from the Persian Gulf.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/pgulf.html

Let's see, maybe 5 gallons of gasoline use per week on the average. Some weeks require more travel than others.

I'd be willing to go completely alternative energy sources (solar, geothermal, wind) and actively support that transition from fossil fuels.

I've not added to the usual conservation routines recently, although travel requirements have reduced due to the bad economy.

As far as what petroleum is used for, you've got some fuel oil fired electricity generation plants, but not many. Coal and nuclear fuels generate most of the non-hydro electricity right now. Some wind generation is online, and some solar. You can rig up solar panels to feed back into the grid. This runs your meter backwards when the sun is shining, and I do believe this is a legal use of personal solar everywhere in the US. Your local meter reader might report you though, if he or she has never encountered grid-feeding solar before.

Natural gas, propane or fuel oil is used for heat. Most fireplaces put into houses these days run on natural gas or propane. However, you can get highly efficient wood stoves too, depending if local laws approve them. Most areas have building codes that restrict the use of old-fashioned fireplaces, due to polution and probably fire hazards.

Petroleum is also used in many plastics and synthetic fibers. I'm not sure, but complex polymeres may be based on petroleum too. Lots of solvents are petrol-based. Can't think of much else, but I'm sure some casual research would add to this list.

Driving out of my garage this morning, I saw more things that also run on gasoline:
- Lawn mower
- Leaf blower
- Chainsaw
- Weedeater (actually mine is electric)

I just bought a Hummer.

Jaime

It would be interesting if we could give a REAL answer to that question. For instance.

Prorate the energy cost of your home, car, appliances, furniture, clothing etc. etc. including extracting the materials from their raw state, manufacturing them and transporting them. Add in the energy cost of repair and maintenance.

Now if you REALLY want to get serious add in your fraction of the energy costs necessary to maintain the public and private services that you pay for. That could be anything from the police, the fire department, our military, the water department, the electrical utility and the entire collection of local, state and national services that you may or may not rely on.

Perhaps a follow up question would be how many of these would you be willing to dispense with or at least accept a lot less of?

My wife and I use about 15 gallons of gas a week. I always try to live near my work, because I will save gas money, and I dislike hours in the car. I used to drive big V8 trucks. But a few years ago I bought a Toyota Camry which get 26-33 mpg, city/hwy. I just bought a Toyota Matrix which gets the same mileage. I consciously realize that global warming is happening and I believe that alternative sources of energy must be developed. I would buy and electric car if the price was in my range. Right now I think hybrid cars like Honda Insight and Toyota Prius are around $25-30K.