^[1]
I don’t own a car, so I usually don’t pay attention to the cost of gasoline. But with the intense debate about climate change this spring here in Japan, and the Iraq war not going very well at all, gasoline cost is a major issue that affects everyone. Also, there is the serious issue of “peak oil ^[2]” – the fact that fossile fuels are getting less economical to pump up from oil fields around the world. Guys, we are running out of oil. A global decline in oil production will have serious social and economic implications…

Today, in Japan, gas costs about 130-140 yen per liter. That is around $4.50 a gallon. Compared to Northern Europe, that is a bit less: The Netherlands appears to have the highest cost due to taxes at $6.73 a gallon at the pump. The US average is $3.20 a gallon (Note that US taxes ^[3] on gas have gone down from 32% to 14% since 2000 – who is paying for the war in Iraq?).

I found this Irish AA site ^[4] that gives the following prices for European countries in Euro and local currencies (the chart is easier to see on the AA website…):

Local Currency per litre /Euro cent per litre
Country /Currency /Unleaded /Diesel /Unleaded /Diesel
Austria Euro - - 1.06 0.97
Belgium Euro - - 1.36 1.07
Finland Euro - - 1.29 0.99
Germany Euro - - 1.32 1.13
Greece Euro - - 0.96 0.93
Netherlands Euro - - 1.47 1.08
Italy Euro - - 1.27 1.18
Spain Euro - - 1.01 0.93
France Euro - - 1.27 1.06
Ireland Euro - - 1.11 1.07
Portugal Euro - - 1.30 1.04
Sweden Swedish Krona 11.79 10.64 1.33 1.20
Switzerland Swiss Franc 1.67 1.72 1.06 1.09
GB Sterling 0.93 0.96 1.38 1.42
USA US Dollars 0.76 0.76 0.58 0.58