The High Price of Oil

It's simple economics - a low supply of oil and a high demand would mean an opportunity for someone to make money. In this case though, it gets a little more complicated.

We have been dependent on oil for so many years it's amazing how we haven't developed enough technology to sustain ourselves after the supply runs out. A short review of the automobile's history would show something rather surprising.

In 1769 Nicolas Joseph Cugnot used a steam engine to propel a tractor that ran upto 2 1/2 mph. Somewhere around the 1830s, Robert Anderson created a crude electric car out of rechargable batteries. It was not until 1886 when the first practical gasoline powered automobile was patented by Karl Benz.

A battle between steam, electric and gasoline-powered vehicles came about until around the 1910s. Obviously, gasoline powered vehicles prevaled and this is most notably due to Henry Ford who in 1904 began assembly-line production of his gas powered automobies. The battle between gas and electric arose again in 1973 when an Arab oil embargo caused renewed interest in electric cars.

Since the development of the gasoline-powered automobiles in 1886, there has been no real shift or change to sustainable powered automobiles. The Hybrid cars we see today are simply minor developments and we are still facing a problem if another shortage in fuel arises.

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