Gasoline is a nonrenewable resource. This means that it cannot be replaced within one generation when we use run out. Gasoline is a fossil fuel. It takes millions of years for nature to create new reserves of oil. So are we about to run out?

According to 20/20, which aired on May 12, 2006 on ABC, the answer is no. In Alberta, Canada there is a vast supply of virtually untapped oil. The Tar Sands of Alberta contain enough hydrocarbon to fuel the entire world for over a hundred years. This is an area of sand and rock mixed with oil. Billions of barrels of oil could be extracted. This would not create gasoline as cheap as what we now use. The oil wells of the Middle East offer a fairly easy type of oil to refine. It is clean and liquid. The Alberta oil is neither. The Middle East oil is extracted from the ground for less than $5 a barrel. It would cost three times as much to get oil from the tar sands because they have to add hot water to separate the sand from the oil.

There are many other untapped sources of fuel. So why have experts been predicting for the last fifty years or longer, that we are running out of oil? Because we were. They weren’t lying to us. As our technology advances, we have been able to come up with new ways to find oil and to extract it from unusual places. Sonar allows scientists to find new pockets of oil easily. In the past it was hit or miss. Off coast ships have their own oil drills. Robots allow them to explore even deeper.

So should we just sit back and pay more for gasoline? I hope we don’t because many of the environmental problems associated with using gasoline still exist. The main problem—air pollution. Fossil fuels are among the most polluting substances on Earth. As our population increases, so does the number of gasoline burning vehicles. This contributes to the greenhouse effect and slowly raises the temperature around the Earth.

As gasoline prices continue to rise, please consider alternative fuel burning cars. Not only will they save you money in the long run, most of them don’t pollute. It is up to us to save the Earth. If we don’t begin now, it may be too late.

***For tips on saving money by reducing gasoline usage, click here.

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