FUEL SOLUTION-

"The time has come," the walrus said, ;

"To speak of many things, or Arab Sheiks, the price of oil and the cost of gasoline."

(with apologies to Lewis Carroll)

The price of oil and gas- oline is on the rise again and it's going to be hitt- ing us where it.hurts, in the pocketbook. There is a way this problem could be easily reduced if not eli- minated entirely - convert all the cars to use metha- ne instead of gas. Before you start to shake your head in disagreement, ple- ase allow me to present my case.

There's a little old man. in Devon, England who cal- ls himself Harold Bates, (I believe he was baptised that too). Harold loved tinkering with his automo— bile and one fine day bui- lt'a simple convertor that allowed his car to run on methane instead of the us- ual petrol(gasoline), Any- way, once he had converted his automobile, he needed a source of methane. So every week he trotted,aro- und releiving his neighbo- urs (who happened to be. farmers) of all their pig manure. He then took this manure, sprinkled it with bacteria, added a dash of

water and let the mixture

ferment. After fermenting

a little while, methane is produced, good old CH4.

The methane converter for the car costs about $33. and all one needs is a si- mple switch and the car will revert to a gas cons- umer for areas where meth- ane may be scarce. Methane being a simpler hydrocarb- on than gasoline, pollutes less, is oderless and col- orless. It doesn't dissol- ve in the motor oil and thus doesn't contaminate it; oil changes are reduc- ed to almost four per year to only once a year. Also, because it has an octane rating of 150, it needs and contains no lead so both Spark plugs and exhaust sy- stem Will last longer. Po— wer wouldn't cut down in the engine and the methane costs about 3¢ a gallon.

Why hasn't it caught on then? Well, like many oth-. er suppressed inventions, this could cause many peo-/ 91s who are now rich from gasoline sales to lose so-‘ me of their precious money

and they have ways of sup- pressing and censoring "un- welcome"iinventions such

as this.

It would be quite simple to set.up this methane pr- ogram on P.E.I. There are many types of manure avai— .lable and the by-product of the fermentation is an excellent fertilizer. The Population is small enough

I \

j A

“Well . . . it isn’t as if I were a welfare bum."

CADRE. TUESQ. nov.

4..-

ilau Paag 5

to make the whole thing practical and workable. f

“Two or three methane cent-

ers could be set up and then the methane could be transported over the short ‘distances to the other pa-. rts of the Island. This conversion to methane wou- ld free more oil for heat- ing, lessen pollution and

maybe slow the price incr—

ease in oil.

The only worry I have is that some capitalist will get control of the methane centers and maybe start to increase the price of met— hane and start the viscio- us circle all over again.

Leslie Klewin

SIGN OF THE FISH

Information, referral, sup- port, and'a sympathetic ear, for peOple on P.E.I. is as close as a telephone number. Many worthwhile services are available to people who may feel frustrated, or lonely, because of their inability to contact the services they are in need of. The Fish Mo- vement, a volunteer service, begun in England in 1961, i and since established in ma- ny centers across the world including Ch'town in 1972, is designed to provide assi- stance to such people in an effort to helping them to help themselves.

The Fish has been a Christ- ian symbol sincethe early days bf the Christian Chur- ch. The Greek word for fi- sh, "ichthus" are the ini- tials for the Greek words for "Jesus Christ God's So n Saviour," and the sign of the Fish Movement is b- uilt upon the affirmation of faith. The Fish Moveme- nt provides people with a chance to be of service to their community and to ex- press their 1ove and conc- ern for their fellowman in a practical way. Most of the volunteer work is done on the telephone line, but there are other areas such as transportation, friend- ly visiting, provide a me- al, housework for the Sick, that are valuabe and effe-

Fish telephone volunteers are exposed to an extended screening process, and se- lected by qualified people before they go on the line. ctive services, and requi- re volunteers to keep them active.

They are eXpected to work with an experienced volun-

teer for a period of time

a and are then assigned to a

shift of their own. Refer- ral is the key Operation of the Fish Movement, as many of the volunteers are untrained, ordinary people who are interested and co- ncerned about their neigh- bour.-

The Fish Movement needs people, people who have a genuine concern for others and who want to help othe- rs. This is your opportun- ity to contribute in a po- sitive productive way, to assist in elevating some of the struggles that less fortunate people than you, are experiencing everyday. \Are you interested? For further information call

the Fish number 894-Fish (3u7u) or contact Marion Morrison, Dept. of Student Services.

Marion Morrison

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