Peak Oil
January 21st, 2010The Detroit auto show was a couple weeks ago and Toyota, once again, showed why they are leading when it comes to high-mileage, low-emission vehicles.
Toyota showed off the FT-CH (the CH stands for compact hybrid), which gets better mileage than the Prius. The FT-CH is smaller and geared more towards younger people. In addition, it will be more affordable than the Prius.
However, the thing that really impressed me was what Jim Lentz of Toyota Motor Sales said at the show. Lentz said that within 20 to 30 years, we will reach peak oil and enter a period where demand for oil will be higher than supply. This means the price of oil will skyrocket. Lentz says we need to “re-invent” the automobile to one that “eliminates or greatly reduces the use of conventional petroleum fuels.”
People have different opinions about when we will reach “peak oil.” Some say we already have. Nevertheless, the critical issue here is that big car companies see the change coming and are now pouring money into hybrid and electric technologies. They want to be prepared when the price of gas rockets up again, because this time, it may not come back down.
Actually, we cannot wait for oil prices to force us to start using these newer, cleaner technologies. That is putting economics in front of the environment, and that is something that simply cannot continue, as we now know.
–Mark Alvis