Oil prices?

This morning when driving in to work (after filling my tank with $3.15 a gallon gas) I heard that oil prices were down almost $7 a barrel in the past week on news of larger then expected supply. They indicated that the $100 a barrel mark was not as likely as soon as had been previously thought.

By the time I got to work I had heard a second report (20 minutes later) that there had been a deadly fire in a Canadian pipeline with supplies up to 15% of US supply. Prices had soared back over $95 a barrel and $100 oil is likely.

We need to find ways to free ourselves from fossil fuels. I know it won't happen quickly, or cheaply. But slow and steady steps will help us take advantage of what "free" energy is around us in the form of solar, wind, tidal, methane from landfills, and others. Alternative power for transportation may include hydrogen, vegetable oil, electricity (from sources above), peddle power, and more. A distributed system both geographically and technologically will be the solution, I feel. Not today or tomorrow, but soon. Our children should see a new infrastructure grow. (Photo of the solar panels on the building I work at, a 3.4 kW array.)

I wonder if the park would consider letting us put a wind turbine in our backfield on the top of the hill? I want my next vehicle to run on bio-diesel and used vegetable oil. We are looking at alternative power for the workshop we want to build in a couple years. Solar on the roof for daily needs and a bio-diesel generator for when we need to run high amperage items (power tools, drill presses, welders.) We can all take little steps, and slowly we will do it! Together, small steps at a time.