No, that was a federal government figure. It is the average for the USA. And yes, it probably does go to the road on which to toll was collected.
True, but Chevron just bought a Boi Algae company. ANother company producing ethanol from food waste was bought out by GM. Right now the Petrol Companies have the cash and they are trying to ensure that the alternative is sold under the same brand name. BP after sponsoring genocide all over the world now likes to call itself “Beypnd Petroleum”.
“…in another 10 years due to technological improvements, what is today $100 and $200 oil becomes $50 and $100 oil. This exact scenario has been happing for years, and will probably continue to do so.”
In the semiconductor business, yes. But I don’t believe that is true in the oil business. Sure there are some productivity improvements, but not of the magnitude it seems you are implying. I hope you’re right, though.
Won’t you need an internal combustion engine to boil the water?
Making biofuels from algae and from grass and other plant matter has great possibilities. It takes megabucks to bring these things to market, and the large oil companies are smart enough to fund a good deal of the research. We need strong tax and other incentives to speed this process up.
However, fuel production cannot compete for cropland used in food production; that borders on criminal. That’s the only thing Fidel Castro ever said that I agree with!
The US government will soon see the eror of its ways of large scale subsidizing of corn and soybeans for fuel. There is a worldwide food shortage developing already.
Steam is not a fuel; it is a heat transfer medium. You still have to heat the boiler. If you fired an automotive boiler with gasoline, you’d get about 8 mpg instead of 30 with a modern high compression gasoline engine.
A non-condensing steam engine is about 8-10% efficient, compared to nearly 40% for a modern diesel. That’s why we no longer have steam trains, and nearly all locomotives are diesels.
The nice thing about the first energy crisis was that cars gained a great deal in efficiency in the 70s (catalytic converters)
Nope! Catalytic converters were installed to reduce pollution, not improve efficiency. In their early days, engines were run with much richer mixtures (cooler, to reduce nitrous oxides), with the CCs getting rid of the resulting CO and unburned hydrocarbons. The result was poorer mileage.
Phil, the pre-converter mileage was dismal as US manufacturers fiddled with the timing, lower compression ratios, etc. The coming of the converter, electronic ugnition and other improvements resulted in much better mileage by the end of the seventies. The 1969-1976 was the “dismal mileage and driveablility period”. After that, things improved quickly.
Agree that a pre-1969 car with a high compression ratio and no emisison controlshad good mileage.
Obviously , all the engine changes were initially driven by environmental requirements, and then followed up by the CAFE standards which forced further changes.
You ALMOST have it…For every contract they buy, which tends to push the price up, at some point they must sell, which pushes the price down…Speculators can get massacred just as easily as turning a profit. They don’t control supply, they just bet on future market conditions…Every drop they buy gets sold in the same market at the then prevailing price…
Won’t you need an internal combustion engine to boil the water?"
How about external combustion engine. A gasoline engine is internal combustion. :-)How long have we been hearing about how healthy, un-polluting, and energy-efficient it would be to have our jobs close enough to our homes so instead of driving, we could walk or bike. As in the rumors about living in the state of Washington.
While they were planning the new I-99 highway to connect I-80 to State College, Pennsylvania, there were discussions for a few weeks about including facilities for pedestrians and bicycles. But it didn’t last. It’s only for cars.
I’m sure this scenario has been repeated thousands of times. Now, we’re locked in.
ENRON is exactly one of the big reasons gas prices are not dropping. According to the website www.closetheenronloophole.com, “In 2000, Enron lobbyists seeking to exempt energy commodity trading from federal oversight were successful in passing the Enron Loophole. Enron basically had the word “energy” removed from the federal commodities laws pertaining to certain types of trading environments. Virtually overnight, the loophole freed over-the-counter energy trading from federal oversight requirements, opening the door to excessive speculation and energy price manipulation. While Enron is long gone, its legacy remains.” This is just part of what you will learn about high gas prices and what you can do about it from the website. I strongly recommend you and other readers check this out and let your people in congress know you want this loophole closed immmediately. As I understand it at least one bill that would address it is being held up in the Senate from a vote.
I suppose the US government could set the price for the 45% of oil the country produces domestically. What should that price be? If it is less than the $100/barrel or so that is the world price, companies will prefer to develop foreign sources.
Don’t expect any country to sell the US any oil at less than world price; so the 55% the US imports will still have to be bought at $100 or so.
The same is true for natural gas; The world price in Europe is $8.50 per million BTUs or 1000 cubic feet. Any gas imported from overseas will be at the deliverd LNG (liquified natural gas)rate charged all other countries.
Gas imported by pipeline from Canada is under long term contract, and not subject to weekly fluctuations. When these contracts get renewed, the price will reflect world price, not what US consumers, or congress would like it to be.
Similarly the price of gas at the pump reflects the cost of crude oil (domestic and foreign) plus processing and marketing costs. You could have price gouging in a country like Mexico with only one oil company. Luckily, in the US there are many refiners and marketers and there is competition.
ENRON committed many criminal acts, but they were not convicted for any normal sales to customers. They many many foolish decisons based on paper profits and “virtual assets”. A good book on the subject is “COnspiracy of Fools”, outlining the fraudulant business practices ENRON egaged in.
My chevelle didn’t get that good of gas mileage, I didn’t think(maybe I’m just spoiled with my Civic, I dunno). I think the most I got was 14mpg with mostly city driving, most of the time it was like 12~13mpg with the 283 v8 and powerglide tranny. Though I imagine the tranny was the biggest hurdle in decent mileage anyways.
I have to go, but wanted to comment on this topic and only glimse at the topic here and there.
I wonder why someone didn't mention Iraq War. Before the War, they were producing more oil than after the invasion. I don't realy knows how much oil is used to ferry every american Personal to and from the Region plus the usage of the airplanes, humvees, tanks and Ect uses the amount of oil each day. But I bet it's Alot.
Another thing is the fact that Oil refinaries are few and far between. I have heard many stories on why not a new one has been built in the past 20 or so years. You would think, that the natural thing to do is to keep up with demand and build the Refinaries (the factories that convert crude oil into gas, diesel, ect). The stories range from which side of the political fence you sit. If you sit with Rush Limbaugh, the story is the environmental wacko's prevented new refinaries to be built. If you listen to the left, you hear that it was the greed of the oil companies to have new refinaries built. Anyway, if we are to lower gas prices, the first thing to do is to increase refinary compacity. I bet it had something to do with both reasons. Since I'm not an expert in this field, I can't really say which was the main reason, I bet it was a little bit of both.
Bio Fuels sound good, but wait, don't you have to grow them and plus I forget what magazine, whether it was Popular Mechanics or Scientific American, said that the increase of natural Gas imports would have to be increased to make bio fuels.
also the price of milk, and other food items have also incrase not just due to the fact of higher fuel prices, but also due to the fact that the same plants that we used to make food also go to make fuel, making the prices rise. A goood example, why is Milk so high, well last I check, dairy cows need corn to make milk. And the corn is being used to make biofuels for our cars. good for the farmers, bad for moms.
So whats the solution. Well for the short term, stop driving and start using your own two feet to get around. Using these methods does reduce your carbon footprint. Using Public Transit and support the more of it. Going to the Grocery Store isn’t a good thing by bus, trust me I know, but going to work and to school is better by bus.
Long term solutions very, from different fuels to different energies. So far we are starting go down the road with biofuels, hybrids and maybe hydrogen. With the current leadership in Congress, Democrat or Republican, we will never see a great day of a “post Oil World” unless this nation take it on politically and nationally, to change what we use for oil.
I think one important reason the price of gasoline isn?t going to drop is that the increased price more realistically reflects its value. One gallon of gas will move a 3,000 pound car 30 miles. It will move a 500 pound motorcycle and its occupant 50 miles. It provides enough energy to move these objects at speeds near 70 miles per hour. That is a lot of energy. Even at $5 it sounds like a bargain to me.
Agree Jeremy; gasoline and diesel fuel are still the all-time bargain. Even Mennonites in Pennsylvania and Ohio know deep down that horse transport is more expensive, and certainly more polluting.
Of all the things we buy, bottled water is the most hideously expensive thing, costing more than gasoline.
I make my own wine, and starting with the best quality grapes/juice, it still costs me $1.35 per 750 cc bottle to produce, including cork and labels. I call it “Chateau Docnique”.
In another post I mentioned that oil had to go to $240/barrel for serious alternatives to be brought on the market rapidly and in large volume.
The other main advantages of gasoline and diesel is the very high ENERGY DENSITY, the energy per cubic foot or gallon, and the ease of transport and conversion. No other fuels or energy forms have matched that yet.
The other main advantages of gasoline and diesel is the very high ENERGY DENSITY, the energy per cubic foot or gallon, and the ease of transport and conversion. No other fuels or energy forms have matched that yet.
That says it all…
Try taking the Wall street speculators out of the equation and you might see how much of the price drive is not supply or demand but middle man mark up.
Halitosis to all oil traders!