Daily driver or not poll

[$¢'s 5th Gen]

I think it will be a while before gas runs out. The oil exploration keeps getting deeper in the ocean and we will keep finding oil for as long as we are alive.

Mine will be a daily driver as well. I cant say friggin though cause thats sounds to me like you (in general) are upset about it. Not me, I will have a smile every time it starts. Which will be everyday

[Pencil.Fight]

Originally Posted by $¢'s 5th Gen

I think it will be a while before gas runs out. The oil exploration keeps getting deeper in the ocean and we will keep finding oil for as long as we are alive.

Yes, oil will exist forever, there's no questioning that. It's a matter of economics. With the rising of oil prices, along with increasing environmental concerns, more and more people are turning to alternative means. This will eventually lead to all-electric, whether it be battery powered, solar powered, wind powered, or powered by a rail on the road or wires hanging overhead (like buses). The drop in demand for oil may initially cause gas prices to drop. However, as more and more people turn away from oil, it will no longer be profitable for these companies to search for, drill, and operate oil wells. Consequently, the oil supply will drop sharply and, if not completely outlawed, it will become a luxury item with extremely high prices.

Of course this is all just a personal prediction, but that's what I think will happen. Not in the next 5-10 years, but within my lifetime.

Of course with the birth rate being what it is, and with all the development around the country, traffic may get so bad that they outlaw everything but mass transit systems anyway. Just look at New York City, they're almost to that point already.

Originally Posted by $¢'s 5th Gen

Mine will be a daily driver as well. I cant say friggin though cause thats sounds to me like you (in general) are upset about it. Not me, I will have a smile every time it starts. Which will be everyday

It's not friggin' as a bad thing, it's friggin' as in enthusiasm. Like, "Hell yeah I'm driving this thing every friggin' day! If the back seats are comfortable enough, I may sleep in it."

[$¢'s 5th Gen]

Originally Posted by Pencil.Fight

It's not friggin' as a bad thing, it's friggin' as in enthusiasm. Like, "Hell yeah I'm driving this thing every friggin' day! If the back seats are comfortable enough, I may sleep in it."

Then, Hell Ya. Every friggin day

[stovt001]

I agree with pencil, that within our lifetimes oil will be a luxury. So years down the line we won't be able to drive the Camaro every day, but we can probably pay a high price to get a tank every now and then, to take her out for a cruise or race. I'm looking forward to clean, renewable, cheap, domestically produced energy, and the instant torque of electric motors is an added bonus, but I'll always be fond of that V8 rumble, so will probably hold on to my Camaro, just for kicks on the weekend. But from the time I get it for a couple years I will drive it every day.

[$¢'s 5th Gen]

Originally Posted by Pencil.Fight

Yes, oil will exist forever, there's no questioning that. It's a matter of economics. With the rising of oil prices, along with increasing environmental concerns, more and more people are turning to alternative means. This will eventually lead to all-electric, whether it be battery powered, solar powered, wind powered, or powered by a rail on the road or wires hanging overhead (like buses). The drop in demand for oil may initially cause gas prices to drop. However, as more and more people turn away from oil, it will no longer be profitable for these companies to search for, drill, and operate oil wells. Consequently, the oil supply will drop sharply and, if not completely outlawed, it will become a luxury item with extremely high prices."

Maybe, but by the time this happens you will be so old, you wont remember where you parked your 5th gen. When your grandson helps you find it, it will smell like ben gay.

[Mr. Wyndham]

ETHANOL!!!!! We'll be able to drive our cars for some time to come...you won't have to worry about a virtually-undriveable (fuel prices or otherwise) V8 muscle car in your lifetime.
Trust me...if you feel like it

[Silverado]

Every day from after the last snow to just before the first one....okay, every now and then I might get caught out in that first one, but they don't have the salt on the streets yet, so I can get it home, cleaned up and put away for the winter before that happens.

Besides, I live close enough that I pretty much go home for lunch every day. If it starts looking like bad weather, take an early lunch and put the Camaro in the garage.

Bad weather, winter driving, etc...that's what the Silverado is for.

[Pencil.Fight]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

ETHANOL!!!!! We'll be able to drive our cars for some time to come...you won't have to worry about a virtually-undriveable (fuel prices or otherwise) V8 muscle car in your lifetime.
Trust me...if you feel like it

Ah yes, Ethanol is an option now, though a very limited one, but it's production is also quite harmful to the environment. It may not fully catch on before it is lost to history.

In my opinion, for electric vehicles to really be practical, the infrastructure will need to be immense. Ethanol is alright for a stop-gap, but I really don't see it being around for too long in the future.

[stovt001]

Well they are making advances in other bio-fuels that don't dip into the food supply, so we'll see where it goes

[Mr. Wyndham]

Just sayin'...cellulosic ethanol (many other sources of crap to turn besides corn) production yields energy balances of 8-1, compared to corn ethanol's 1.5 to 1.

Don't mistake me for saying this is a be-all end-all fuel. But it's promising.
If you're looking for a decent read, check this out:
http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/18227/

[DGthe3]

Speaking of cellulose ethanol . . .

researchers are looking to termites to try and find ways to more efficiently break down cellulose into sugar then into ethanol. They are trying to find the enzymes so that they can create artificial ones to use in a massive production facility

[stovt001]

Yeah, I've heard good things about Cellulose ethanol too. Then again, everything looked perfect when E85 was introduced, so problems crop up. The good news is that bio-fuels are being taken seriously now, so I'm confident research will develop a suitable replacement for fossil fuels.

[LSxcellent]

Cellulosic Ethanol may happen... lots of progress there.

Also check out glycerin (the byproduct of bio-diesel production) is being reformed into ethanol by microbes... not a huge source of ethanol but another one.

http://www.wired.com/science/planete...07/11/glycerin

Finally, my favorite bio-fuel source... blue green algea! Several companies are working on this, but none so seriously as PetroSun:

http://www.petrosuninc.com/

This energy balance for this process is MUCH better than any of the ethanol processes since the algae is housed in clear glass tubes and can be arranged in pretty arid (read un-farmable) regions. The algae will eat almost anything, and produce huge amounts of oils for bio-diesel as well as cellulosic biproducts for ethanol production.

http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/071016/0315843.html

Oh, and just to get back on topic... its not the winter snow that forces my Camaro into the garage in the winter, its the huge chunks of rock-salt that they put on the road. My current car has suffered badly from all the rock chips and dings from these hunks of salt, and I have learned a hard lesson.

Winter beaters are def. the way to go here in Boston if you want your car to stay nice.

~LSx

[Jeff]

Every day here