I don't think that we will ever run out of fuel, BTW just cheap fuel.

When gasoline was $1.00 per gallon, it was not economical to use other fuels. All of a sudden, oil from shale, from coal, etc. is competitive with more expensive oil.

It's almost as though cheap oil was dumped on the fuel market for years -- holding back the development of new fuels. Now that the prices are increasing, we should see a real solid increase in conservation and competing and renewable energy sources.

It was already possible to make cars with 80-100 mpg -- but the engineers and car companies focused on heavier and more powerful vehicles. With some improved aerodynamics, lighter materials and other technologies like hybrid engines, a lot can be done.

We bought a prius a few years ago and we were the butt of jokes -- people would ask if it did more than 50 miles per hour (i think they confused the 50 MPG!) We love the car. There are literally no compromises when compared to a 100% gas powered car.

A few years ago it seemed unreasonably expensive to adapt the hybrid to a plug-in hybrid (more batteries are added and you get close to 100 MPG when you plug in to charge at night). But with gas at $4, it would pay for itself pretty quickly.

I think that we unfortunately need these higher prices to inspire conservation and development.