Gas prices=$4 ?

[llPa1nll]

Well any process where you convert one form of energy to another will lose a percentage thats just a given. My electricity in my home comes from a Nuclear Power Plant, so most electricity comes from coal or hydro sources but not all of it. I didnt say it was fool proof but it is being used. Granted Iceland is a small country population wise, they are doing something about it. I just dont see any party any leader doing much about this problem. I mean dont look towards the oil companies to do anything they are happy making their record profits. Dont look to the auto makers that would cost them millions of dollars to retool. While in this gas crunch most are still wondering what to do with all the SUVs. Yes, any other type of fuel is going to mean reworking the current infrastructure, that is also pretty much unavoidable. Hybrids still use Gas. The markup for these vehicles means that you would nearly have to keep this vehicle on the road for several years before you start to see any of the savings from the hybrid technology.

If and when I am in the market for a new truck I will look into the "grease" cars and see how economical it is too convert a diesel truck to use the so called "grease". As fishermen and some of us I am guessing own boats. There are a very few options in a hybrid to be used as a tow vehicle. Raul and Tyrius what do you see as an alternative?

[tyrius.]

The markup for these vehicles means that you would nearly have to keep this vehicle on the road for several years before you start to see any of the savings from the hybrid technology.

It isn't necessarily markup.  The cost to produce hybrids is more than a regular vehicle.  That is why they cost more.  You are correct that one would have to drive a hybrid for years before the gas savings becomes greater than the vehicle cost.  However, someone has to pay for the innovation.  There are obviously many people willing to make that investment.

There are a very few options in a hybrid to be used as a tow vehicle. Raul and Tyrius what do you see as an alternative?

If you live around an area where you can get E85 you can get one of those as a tow vehicle.  This will burn 85% ethanol and 15% gas.

Long term alternatives are to continue working on the hybrid/electric vehicles.  These will travel around 40 miles on battery and then use gas to charge the batteries and continue to power the car.  Look up Chevy's Volt.  They still use gas, but VERY little and they would not require the entire fuel distribution of the US to be retooled.  

[Raul]

My friend, it 's not a problem of loosing some energy from one form to the other, it 's simply a matter of efficiency and cost, if you generate energy to produce hydrogen better spend that same ammount of energy in electrical power to charge batteries than loosing more energy when you have finally produced the hydrogen to be used as fuel for the fuel cell.

You can 't compare the needs of energy of 315,000 inhabitants to the needs of energy of 300 MILLION americans, besides that, they have a lot of free energy from geothermal sources, it costs them nothing.

Nuclear energy not only is dirty, it 's dangerous; you don 't burn tons of oil or coal to produce energy but you generate tons of toxic and radioactive waste that are going to take millions of years to breakdown. And accidents happen with nuclear reactors, the 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl incidents are going to stay in the memory of everyone not for days but for decades. Just ask the voters of Pennsylvania what they think about having a brand new nuclear facility at their doors.

If you want a a cheap tow truck to tow your vehicle then change the fuel source for a cheaper one, natural/butane gas, hundreds of buses, public transportation and vehicles here use natural/butane gas. But not everything is honky dory with the conversion:

1.- The price of the conversion to natural/butane gas ( which is paid in the relative short term with the savings you get from using a cheaper fuel )

2.- It may not be easy to access the station in some places. Here is most places gas is not delivered by pipeline, it 's supplied to the users either by small mobile tanks or by a large truck that fills your home larger stationary tank so the gas supply is stored in a station and that station provides the service of filling the tanks.

3.- You still need to have a big tank containing the gas in the back of your truck which reduces the cargo area.

4.- Engines need a more frequent maintenance routine.

5.- You drive by and everybody thinks there 's a gas leak somewhere.

6.- There 's always the possibility of a gas leak.

[KYbass1276]

I have just learned to deal with the high gas prices and try to make the best of it as bad as it may be there isn't much I can do about it. I wish there was but there isn't :-/  Oh and I heard it was going to be $4 a gal before the forth of july but it didn't happen and there saying on the new in my neck of the woods it will be $4 before thanksgiving.  Who know's not me