we all started to change our motor oil every 5,000 to 7,500 miles like the car designers recommend instead of the 3,000 miles that the oil companies recommend. Plus all the oil filters that would not have to be made and disposed of.Figure out average miles driven per year muliplied by the drivers of north american alone would equal millions of gallons a year.
2006-12-17 13:30:06 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Environment
Current oil production is approx 84 million Barrels a day (or about 3000 million gallons). That is about 30 seconds per million gallons ... so how much will we save ???
Peak oil production has been set at 'the end of the decade' for about 60 years now.
Every time the decade ends we have found more reserves, better ways to extract more oil from existing reserves and re-evaluated what can be economically recovered from known reserves.
There is plenty of known oil in Alaska and there may be seas of it under the ice in Antarctica.
Of course however much we have it may not be enough ... go see what might happen when oil starts to get too expensive to burn :- http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/
2006-12-21 09:30:43 · answer #1 · answered by Steve B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many people believe that changing their oil more often makes their engine last longer.
I usually wait til about 5000 miles to change mine.
Think of all the oil I save every year. I'm sure it goes towards helping Britney Spear's baby drive more often. Or maybe it gives Al Gore more oil to fly his plane around telling us we're burning too much oil.
Someone's gonna use the oil any way you look at it.
We're floating in the stuff here in the US. Estimates are that we have enough to last several hundred years. It'd be nice if we were allowed to drill for it. That way hostile countries like Iran wouldn't have such an economic hold over us.
2006-12-17 21:44:23 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yeah your correct that old 5000km rule is mainly for the older vehicles but the newer ones can go for longer.. It also depends on the driving... Highway driving you can get away with the 7500Km before changing but citydriving should have the oil changed sooner just because of the more wear and tear. What would save the oil more is using public transportation or two feet and a heart beat.
2006-12-18 01:16:34 · answer #3 · answered by Dan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The guy who said we're floating in oil and have enough to last for hundreds of years has no idea what he's talking about. Peak oil was reached in the US in the 70's and globally peak oil is due to arrive by the end of this decade. That means the last big reserves in Saudi Arabia, the Caspian basin, Iraq, Venezuela, Russia, etc. will be going downhill.
Yes, I like your suggestion, but long term we need to think in terms of weaning ourselves off oil altogether. It's not going to be easy, but we either have to do it or it will done for us. There are going to be many steps along this path that can get us to that point and I believe if we seriously start now, we may avoid some of the worst effects of the post-oil world.
One step in regards to transportation would be to invest in converting your vehicle to electric power. Most trips are 25 miles and under, well within the range of an electric vehicle. In addition, the batteries for an electric vehicle can be charged using solar panels. That technology is available right now also.
What has hindered widespread adoption of solar panels and solar generated electricity so far has been the high cost of the panels. But I have found a company that will be renting the panels to homeowners for no upfront investment. This is an idea I believe will make this technology available to at least 50% of all households in the country. If you would like more info on this email me: bullshoalsblues@yahoo.com
2006-12-18 06:02:38 · answer #4 · answered by bullshoalsblues 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Please remember too that Gas is made of oil. The amount of oil we use to change the 'oil' in our cars is really small compared to the amount of gasoline we use, so if it provides better fuel economy to change it every 3000 miles, we would be better off to do that to save oil than change it every 5000 miles.
2006-12-17 22:02:23 · answer #5 · answered by TransparentEarth 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Remember a lot of places (heck maybe most) recycle used motor oil. If you are concerned, find an oil changer who recycles the oil.
2006-12-18 01:18:50 · answer #6 · answered by Roman Soldier 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋