Welcome to the Gas Crisis hub page. This hub is a sister site to Gas Crisis and both were developed for everyone, since the gas crisis we're currently experiencing effects every single person on the planet, from the elderly to the newborn. Higher gas prices make every day life a new kind of struggle for even the rich, and especially the poor. With gas exceeding $4.00 a gallon in most states around the US, we're all experiencing the economic effects that this crisis has wrought on our friends, families, and neighbors. If you need up-to-date news and information about the gas crisis and all that it effects, and ways you can effectively save money on gasoline and gas mileage, then you've come to the right place. I hope you find this hub helpful and enjoy your stay.

A very popular item being used at gas stations nowadays is a nifty little piece of plastic known as a prepaid fuel card. If you've never heard of one, a fuel card is a payment card kind of like a debit card except you can only use it to buy petrol, diesel, and other types of fuels at a gas station. Since the extreme rise in gas prices over the past year or so, prepaid fuel cards have gotten more and more popular due to their easy-to-use and time-saving nature.

The biggest benefit to having one of these fuel cards, is that the need for cash at a filling station is eliminated. If you're a member of a carpool or if you're employed at a company that uses cars for transportation during working hours, a prepaid fuel card can be a wonderful blessing. With ordinary cash, drivers have to spend several minutes that they could be using doing something more productive counting out bills, and making sure that everyone in the car has paid their share. With fuel cards, this entire process is eliminated since only one item is needed for the entire transaction of paying for fuel...

The expansion of alternative fuels within the last decade has been insurmountable. With people and nations becoming more environmentally conscious, and demanding better, alternative fuels to gasoline, oil companies have had to give into the constant demand for better and more efficient fuels worldwide. Alternative fuels expansion has seen a resurgence with ethanol especially in the last couple of years as well. With the absolutely frightening spike in gasoline prices around the United States, and around the world, alternative fuels expansion may be our one shining answer to negate the gas crisis we're currently experiencing.

In this highly-advanced day and age, any fuel that isn't procured from oil is deemed 'alternative'. Plants such as corn (which produces an alcohol-based alternative fuel known as ethanol) and certain forms of waste are the main ingredients in what is considered alternative fuel these days. Even stored electricity can be considered part of the alternative fuels expansion, since many cars are beginning to be built to run on electricity alone. Due to the increasing gas prices of the last year or so, more and more people are looking at alternative fuels as a way to come out of the gas crisis with their pocketbooks still intact...

Check this out.

It seems that in California, a certain government bureaucracy (or bureaucrat, it's hard to tell these days how many people are actually calling the shots in government) is pleading with the average driver to stop driving so darn much. Apparently, they've come out with a new taxpayer funded program in California known as PAYD, which will actually pay drivers to stop driving as frequently as they used to, and will supposedly decrease automobile gas mileage significantly. Of course, all the noble reasons are given - to stop rampant pollution, to promote health by getting people to ride their bikes and walk to their destinations, and surprisingly - to combat high fuel prices.

Since when were high fuel prices the fault of the people? It seems to me that continuous rapid inflation is one of the main proponents of the gas crisis that we all found ourselves stuck in, like a deep murky marsh that just won't let go, and I'm not going to sit here and take it for a moment when someone tells me that it's my fault that gas prices are as high as they are; and neither should you! Increasing automobile gas mileage, while reducing the COSTS of fuel, should be one our top priorities. Leave it to California to think that by doling out a certain amount of taxpayer money, that they're going to instantly decrease gas prices like magic. How about we start letting people keep the money that they rightfully earn in these hard economic times, and maybe they can spend it on something a little more useful and productive than not driving?

What a waste of resources.

One of the biggest debates raging right now within the fuel industry is whether or not 'devices that improve fuel economy' actually work or not. In other words, do these particular devices claimed to improve the fuel economy actually do so? Some television shows such as Mythbusters and magazines such as Popular Mechanics say no. Quite a few government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission and Environmental Protection Agency back these shows and magazines up. So what's the real deal? Let's find out.

There are dozens and dozens of devices that claim to improve the fuel economy out there on the market right now. Over 100 of them have been tested by the Federal Trade Commission, and not one of them has made it through their rigorous tests. In fact, this may surprise you, but the FTC has found that some of these devices not only don't work, but can actually damage your car's engine! I'm not one to doubt an entire commodity on the market, but I am a skeptic when it comes to these products, and these numbers just don't hold up...