A good explanation of the long emergency

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/7203633/the_long_emergency

A link and two tips for the day

Just saw this on cnn.com

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/30/finding.alternatives.ireport/index.html

Two more tips for the day:

• Park in the shade if you are going to park for extended periods. "Why" you might ask? Because the heat from the sun will heat up your gas tank and make your gas evaporate. You may not lose much, but every little bit helps when you are a Petropincher.
• Don't fill your tank until you are under a quarter of a tank. Riding around on a full tank all of the time means you are carrying a lot of extra weight around and therefore burning more gas. Makes sense huh?
  

Corrections

I need to review my posts better....One more word on cruise control, and I purchased a tire gauge. Thanks

I had a low tire!!

I purchases a tire gauge today. It was only 98 cents at Lowe's, and lowe and behold - my back right tire was about 15 pounds under pressure. I quickly went to the nearest Fastrac gas station, went to a free air pump, and put in the extra air. That 98 cent investment should easily pay for itself many times over in better gas milage. I suggest everyone go get one and let the Petropinching begin in earnest.

Also, by the way, one of the oldest breweries in America burned down today in Utica, NY and I got to watch the whole thing go down live on the scene. The Saranac Brewery is still burning as I type. R.I.P.

One more work on cruise control

There seems to be a little confusion on cruise control, and austin, I can appreciate the comfort that cruise control brings. When using cruise control keep the following in mind: it should not be used in hilly terrain (which would cause a lot of revving of your engine going uphill), and if you do use it, make sure it is around the speed limit, which will help you burn less gas.

Tip of the day

Park in the absolute first parking lot you find - usually this will be far away from the entrance so it will a) keep you from driving around the parking lot b) keep you from driving any further than absolutely necessary and c) require you to walk a little further, burning off those calories from earlier in the day

Not a good day

Hello Petropinchers - didn't have a good day today; I tried to drive slower as I did my travels, but had an emergency that I had to respond to and found myself driving faster than I would've liked and accelerating more than I should have; can't win them all.

I did read an interesting article today that explained that cruise control can actually be Petropinching positive on flat surfaces (vs. Petropinching negative on hilly roads). Life is all about education - here are a couple of interesting articles if anyone is interested. Thanks for the response today austin.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/27/lifestyle.change.irpt/index.html

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1737002_1737005,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1809900,00.html

Some ideas for Petropinching

Here are a few ideas for today:

• The most obvious one - Drive Less! Seriously, this is the fastest way to Petropinch. Be conscious of why and how many times you get behind the wheel everyday. Instead of going to the store twice in one day or going to multiple stores instead of one store, try to find everything at once. Also, as we have seen this past Memorial Day, more families are learning to enjoy "staycations" instead of vacations and camping out in your back yard can be a lot of fun. Just be aware, and you may realize that you are driving less. (Already we are seeing this, Americans drove 11 billion miles less this past year than the previous one, nice start!)
• Inflate your tires on a regular basis: under-inflated tires cut fuel economy by 2% per pound, so if your tires should be at 32 psi and you are riding at 27 psi, then you have reduced your milage by 10% (your recommended psi should be in your car's owners manual). So in this particular example, if gas were $4 per gallon and you inflated your tires, you would reduce your price to $3.60. Not bad! A tire gauge is only about $5 and air is free at some gas stations. I am going to buy my gauge tomorrow, hope you will too.
• Change your oil as recommended. Old oil increases friction which in turn decreases milage. I recommend no longer than 5,000 miles between changes.
• Keep an eye on your air filter, spark plugs, and oxygen sensors. I am no mechanic, but according to edmunds.com the above items can seriously affect your ability to Petropinch. A clogged air filter can reduce mileage by 10%, and a bad oxygen sensor can reduce mileage by as much as 40%!
• Reduce clutter in your trunk. This may not be a problem for you, but keep this in mind - an extra 100 pounds in your trunk can decrease mileage by up to 2%.
  
• Leave work earlier. If your usual routine is to get up and read the paper at home and then fight the commuter traffic, then maybe you should leave earlier and drive more effeciently. You can always read the paper when you get to work.
• Crack your windows instead of using the air conditioner. While I was driving to Syracuse today, I found myself subconciously running the AC. I looked at my outside temp gauge and noticed that it was at 66 degrees - the exact temp that I was running my AC. I cracked my windows and turned up my radio, and also Petropinched. Running the convenient AC not only burns more fuel, but also decreases drag on your vehicle.
• Use cruise control selectively. I love cruise control, and will therefore find this one hard to do, but I am going to try. I'll let you know how it goes.

Just a few ideas for now. Remember to start recording your milage and measure your results, it will make Petropinching much more fun.

What I did today to Petropinch

Just to give an update - today I drove on the New York Thruway to Syracuse and back; normally I drive 80 miles per hour all the way. Not only is this asking for a ticket, but it is burning a lot of gas (more on that later). Today, I drove 70 there and back, saving just a little of the precious gasoline.
Time to pat myself on the back.

By the way, I also saw diesel fuel for $4.99 today, the highest I have seen yet. Just think of all the products that you use and consume, I would bet just about all of them were carried to you in one form or another by a vehicle that burnt diesel....no wonder everything is going up.

Petroleum - the facts

Petroleum is a naturally occuring liquid found in rock formations in the Earth and is a mix of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights

• Approximately 84% by volume of hydrocarbons present in petroleum is used for energy-rich fuels such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other fuel oils; the other 16% is used as the raw material for many chemical products including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, and plastics among others
• Petroleum makes up 40% of the total energy consumption in the U.S. However, it is responsible for 90% of vehicular fuel needs but only 2% of electricity generation
• The top three oil producting countries in order are Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the U.S.
• Consumption of oil currently is 84 million barrels of oil per day, or approx. 31 billion barrels per year - current estimations guess that there are about 1.2 trillion easily accessible barrels of oil left in known reserves (this does not include another 3.74 trillion that is to believe to be in oil sands which are more difficult and expensive to extract)
• The U.S. uses 20.5 million barrels of oil per day (or 25% of world usage); we produce 8 million of those and import the rest
  

How to begin

For now we are going to focus on gasoline consumption, even though there are many other ways in which we use and abuse petroleum. In order for you to get started, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• By reducing your gasoline consumption, you are not only helping with our current economical, environmental, and political situations, but you are also saving yourself cash - a great motivator
• You can, without a doubt, reduce the amount of gasoline that you use and it never change your lifestyle
• In order to know if you are really accomplishing what you are setting out to do, it is important to measure and set goals for yourself, similar to losing weight

On this last bullet point, I am suggesting that everyone set up some system of measuring your gasoline consumption either daily, weekly, or monthly. Fortunately, I have to do this on monthly basis for my job, but anyone can do this by creating a manual or electronic form to record their milage and/or gasoline consumption. If you know me, email me and I will send you an excel spreadsheet that is already set up and all you have to do is plug in the numbers. Set your own goals and expectations, and you will be surprised at what you can do. If you can reduce your milage and consumption by 10% you can save hundreds of dollars - enough to buy a really nice bicycle!

Why I am doing this

Hello everyone - I have a blog! I was not even sure I really knew what a blog was until I made this, but obviously it was not to hard to set up I am learning how to use this tool as I go. I hope to do the same thing with the way I consume petroleum, learn as I go. Listed below in bullet format are the reasons that I have entered blogdom:

• I am very concerned about the immediate future of our country and the future of mankind as they relate to the dependance on petroleum and the useage of petroleum
  
• I do think that it is healthier to have a positive outlook and doing something proactive rather than preaching and believing in a doomsday scenario
• I feel like I am ignorant about the situation as are most people and would like to use this tool as a way to educate myself and to educate others
• I want to share ways that we can all reduce the amount of petroleum that we use and still maintain a healthy and comfortable life

On this blog I will try to be careful and aware about the statistical information that I post as well as any other articles, charts, videos etc. Once again, I am not trying to scare everyone, but I do believe we all need to be informed and be proactive. I am not living in a tent growing my own crops so I am far from being perfect in regards to petroleum usage, but once again, every little bit helps and we all have to be realistic as to how far we will actually go to help change things.