I'm not real optimistic about the existence of secure supplies of energy that have fixed costs. The receding-horizons process will clobber any notion of "fixed" price. Also, the usual suspects that get proposed are usually suppliers of electricity, not transportation fuel. That problem is not physically insurmountable, but it adds yet more to the economic and environmental costs of implementation.

Additionally, the economic effects of rationing fuel won't be any more pleasant, or popular, than taxation.

(you can see I fall more or less into the doom-and-gloom school of thought on what's coming our way)

I've been interested in some of the tradable ration schemes that are out there. One, TEQs has been highlighted here: http://europe.theoildrum.com/story/2006/8/4/163554/8625

It is not clear to me that this would have an adverse economic impact since it would tend to put money where it will be most quickly spent. The economic impact of exporting all of your money to buy fuel is probably not quite as bad as the problems that arise when that money is used to arm the people you are fighting. Reducing fuel prices through rationing also reduces that stream of funds to second order.

Chris