BioDiesel for all

World gas prices are at record levels, and experts all agree there won't be any significant downwards motion anytime soon. Why are gas prices so high now? What happened over the last year or two to make the price of gas double in the US?

There is much talk in the news about "energy speculators". This notion suggests that a group of very savvy Wall Street investors are somehow manipulating world gas prices for the sake of personal gains. While it is very convenient to scapegoat some unknown, unseen forces or individuals, the real answer is a little more mundane.

This simple answer to the high cost of oil is one of supply & demand. There is higher, rising demand, and stagnant or even declining supply. China and India are industrializing at breakneck speeds, and as a result demand for energy - oil in particular - is rising in lock-step.

The war in Iraq, among other factors, has reduced global supply.

The result is a recipe for increasing gas prices.

But why are gas prices so high now? Another piece of the puzzle is output capacity. Refineries have been running at or near capacity for years. If they weren't, they could probably meet the demand, and world gas prices would stabilize. But because they are already producing all they can, as demand rises, prices follow suit.

There isn't much we can do directly about these crazy gas prices. However, there are many gas mileage improvements that have the same effect of paying lower gas prices. So before you ask yourself why are gas prices so high, spend some time at sites like "Gas For Less Money" and educate yourself about how to spend less of your money on gasoline to begin with!