NexPlan Recycling

A Canadian company is one of the first companies in the world to take garbage from municipal waste in turn it into gas. Enerkem’s facility in Quebec will use garbage and convert it into cellostic ethanol. The new technology converts biomass forestry by-products, such as wood chips and non-compostable trash into ethanol. This type of ethanol is produced from stuff that no one wants. This is the type of ethanol that is not produced from food crops. It is estimated that there is enough of this type of garbage in Canadian landfills that can power 3 million cars per year.

In theory this is a positive step. There has been much debate over the use of ethanol to power our cars, especially when food crops are used to do so. This technology not only reuses waste that Canadians dispose of everyday, but lessons our dependence on oil.

It seems that the high gas prices and rising food prices are hitting the most vulnerable in our society, especially the elderly and the poor, and the volunteer organizations that are trying to assist them. With the rising food and gas prices it leaves less money for the middle class to donate to these worthy causes. Also, the price of gas and food certainly impacts financial decisions for organizations like Meals on Wheels. Meals on Wheels, and other great organizations are faced with some hard choices these days. They often feed a lot of people who are disabled or otherwise cannot get out of the home due to medical conditions or other reasons.

It is just not that organization that is suffering, almost of all of them are reporting less donations and help in some form or another. Local food banks and other charities are also feeling the crunch. It would seem that if the working class has to pay more for food, gas and other necessities then it would only be reasonable to assume they would have less money to donate to these causes as well.

People who are on fixed incomes are having trouble affording the cost of oil to heat their homes in the winter; this is especially troublesome for seniors who just do not have the tolerance or ability to handle the cold like someone younger. Add to that the cost of food and it is easy to see that we have a huge issue to deal with. For example, a United States government agency predicts that by the second half of 2008, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.

To sum it up, high gas prices and higher costs in general will have a much deeper impact than just at the pumps or your pocket book. Many people rely on these services and need them for their survival. There are many charitable organizations that have websites and could gladly use donations. We must all be aware of the issues facing us in North America.

In 2008, taxes in Canada represented on average 35% of the pump price. Taxes include a Federal Excise Tax of 10.0¢ for Regular, 4.0¢ for Diesel and Provincial Tax. According to 2005 statistics the Government of Canada raised about $5 billion per year from excise taxes on fuel, consisting of $4 billion from the gasoline excise tax and $1 billion from the excise tax on diesel and aviation fuel. While the GST is not reported on a commodity-by-commodity basis, GST revenues from gasoline and diesel fuel are estimated to be about $2 billion per year. Collectively, the provinces and territories raise about $7.8 billion per year from excise taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. To summarize this, about one third of the price of a liter of gasoline at the pump is tax. A sixty dollar fill up translates into twenty dollars in the government coffers.

In the US, for the first quarter of 2008, the average state gasoline tax was 28.6 cents per gallon, plus 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 47 cents per gallon. For diesel, the average state tax is 29.2 cents per gallon plus an additional 24.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 53.6 cents per gallon. That is around 15%. We also realize now that the current American government is heavily influenced by the oil industry.

North American governments don’t seem to be doing enough to promote and encourage developing hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrids and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs). Currently, there is not much of a choice as the type of vehicles available to us in the North American market. The majority, whether fuel efficient or not, are powered by gasoline. Without gasoline, billions of dollars would be lost in tax revenue.