Everybody is blaming OPEC...OPEC is blaming the US economy. Congress is pointing fingers everywhere. Bush/Cheney just duck their heads and count their money.
What's the real solution to Gas prices?
Start using our own oil reserves?
Electric cars?
Gas/electric hybrid
Electric/gas hybrid
Veggie oil cars?
BioDiesel?
Alcohol?
Air Car?
Why won't any of the above work?
Forum's been dead for a while, just looking for a conversation.
Gas prices, what's the real answer?
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Rocketdork
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miftah
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
Hydrogen seems to be happening. And Japan just introduced a vehicle that can drive for an hour at 50mph on one liter of water. Which is great, because an engine of that type could power a generator that could operate water desalinators... the water from which could in turn be used to power other things. We have the technological means in our hands to beat this carbon problem. Mass production will take time and infrastructure building, and establishing a new infrastructure takes time. In the mean time, there are alternatives.
But for now, with matters as they are, I ride a bicycle for the majority of my travel. Its good for the atmosphere and good for your waistline. But for those of you commuting in Spokane, may I recommend your bus system? Its not the best in the country, but its still very usable.
But for now, with matters as they are, I ride a bicycle for the majority of my travel. Its good for the atmosphere and good for your waistline. But for those of you commuting in Spokane, may I recommend your bus system? Its not the best in the country, but its still very usable.
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bio
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
The bus system in Spokane is actually pretty damn good.
Of course, I only say that because for the most part it's my only way to get out and about. It's only 30 bucks a month for an unlimited pass (that's the same as 7.3 gallons of gas at today's price... that won't even fill your tank!!). If you're just wanting to ride now and again, it's a buck to get on, and they give you a pass good for 2 hours to ride any other bus.
Cheap as hell!!
Of course, for the alternatives, the Air Car is the vehicle of choice for me. It'll do 70mph, go 186 miles between fills, and takes 3.5 - 4 hours to refill with the compressor (it comes with the car). For the amount that I drove, that means I'd have to plug it in once a week (it uses about $2 worth of electricity to fill it up).
It's also far more eco-friendly than the other options. No lead for batteries or need to refine fuels of any type. About the only thing you would need to do (if so desired) is to install large compressors at gas stations (which could fill the car in under 3 minutes).
Oh... and I'm not dead... just floating.
Of course, I only say that because for the most part it's my only way to get out and about. It's only 30 bucks a month for an unlimited pass (that's the same as 7.3 gallons of gas at today's price... that won't even fill your tank!!). If you're just wanting to ride now and again, it's a buck to get on, and they give you a pass good for 2 hours to ride any other bus.
Cheap as hell!!
Of course, for the alternatives, the Air Car is the vehicle of choice for me. It'll do 70mph, go 186 miles between fills, and takes 3.5 - 4 hours to refill with the compressor (it comes with the car). For the amount that I drove, that means I'd have to plug it in once a week (it uses about $2 worth of electricity to fill it up).
It's also far more eco-friendly than the other options. No lead for batteries or need to refine fuels of any type. About the only thing you would need to do (if so desired) is to install large compressors at gas stations (which could fill the car in under 3 minutes).
Oh... and I'm not dead... just floating.
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Rocketdork
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
Actually public transport is really the only short term solution to the problem of high gas prices.
all the other methods are long term solutions that in the near term won't have any impact on the price of gas. The number of cars on the road that DON'T use these technologies will basically overwhelm any improvement they make at the beginning.
Actually, I don't expect any single technology to become totally dominant. There are only a couple that make Exxon-Mobile, BP, etc happy. They are the ones that preserve their processing and delivery stream. Fuels that require delivery trucks and "gas" stations are the only ones that the oil companies will even consider pursuing.
Hydrogen fuel cell cars have a lot of promise, but some pretty serious issues to tackle inspite of Toyota's introduction. One of the major factors is how to produce the hydrogen...
Electric cars aren't viable until we are able to produce more electricity. We are at a place now where the utilities can't produce enough power today...add the energy contained in the millions of gallons of gas we use today...overload.
Gas electric hybrids? a gimmick if you ask me. They don't do any better on fuel than a Volkswagon Golf TDI diesel. There have been a number of cars on the road that do better or equal to the hybrids of today.
Electric Gas hybrids. I think this is the right way to do a hybrid. But the problem is that there any on the road that I know of...but GM is releasing the Volt 2009 or 2010. Again, though we don't have enough power to charge the batteries on a plug in hybrid.
Air? The best idea since sliced bread. I don't think the oil companies will allow it.
I think a great area of research that nobody seems to be interested in doing is a GASOLINE replacement. Something that we could put in our current vehicles without modification...or only minor ones.
Just my thoughts.
all the other methods are long term solutions that in the near term won't have any impact on the price of gas. The number of cars on the road that DON'T use these technologies will basically overwhelm any improvement they make at the beginning.
Actually, I don't expect any single technology to become totally dominant. There are only a couple that make Exxon-Mobile, BP, etc happy. They are the ones that preserve their processing and delivery stream. Fuels that require delivery trucks and "gas" stations are the only ones that the oil companies will even consider pursuing.
Hydrogen fuel cell cars have a lot of promise, but some pretty serious issues to tackle inspite of Toyota's introduction. One of the major factors is how to produce the hydrogen...
Electric cars aren't viable until we are able to produce more electricity. We are at a place now where the utilities can't produce enough power today...add the energy contained in the millions of gallons of gas we use today...overload.
Gas electric hybrids? a gimmick if you ask me. They don't do any better on fuel than a Volkswagon Golf TDI diesel. There have been a number of cars on the road that do better or equal to the hybrids of today.
Electric Gas hybrids. I think this is the right way to do a hybrid. But the problem is that there any on the road that I know of...but GM is releasing the Volt 2009 or 2010. Again, though we don't have enough power to charge the batteries on a plug in hybrid.
Air? The best idea since sliced bread. I don't think the oil companies will allow it.
I think a great area of research that nobody seems to be interested in doing is a GASOLINE replacement. Something that we could put in our current vehicles without modification...or only minor ones.
Just my thoughts.
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miftah
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
Given the current climate, I'm beginning to doubt the oil companies are going to get much say any more. They have a record for suppressing new tech, but they've violated the public trust now. What are they going to do in retalliation? Raise gas prices? Give it a year. Regulation is going to come snapping down on their necks faster than you can imagine. Once they cede the White House.
"Fear of the bee means the honey is for me" - Jhonn Balance
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bio
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
I noticed yesterday (as my son was driving me around) that E-85 was about 50 cents cheaper than regular unleaded.
I checked online, and I can buy a conversion kit for $369.99 (for my Suzuki) and the install is easy as hell. It allows you to burn E-85, regular unleaded, or a mixture of both.
Sounds pretty damn good to me! Of course, that'll take around 61 fill ups to pay for itself (or just over a year).
I checked online, and I can buy a conversion kit for $369.99 (for my Suzuki) and the install is easy as hell. It allows you to burn E-85, regular unleaded, or a mixture of both.
Sounds pretty damn good to me! Of course, that'll take around 61 fill ups to pay for itself (or just over a year).
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
Coming from a Portland perspective:
Bicycles.
(Or in my case... I've been Unicycling for the past few weeks.)
Bicycles.
(Or in my case... I've been Unicycling for the past few weeks.)
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miftah
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
He's being modest too. He's doing it with a polo mallet now.Encap wrote:(Or in my case... I've been Unicycling for the past few weeks.)
"Fear of the bee means the honey is for me" - Jhonn Balance
Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
This is true!
I'm in the background in the Flaming Lips shirt...
http://www.oregonlive.com/cycling/index ... _park.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Confidential to Mr. Bird: Daks and I are supremely jealous of the pic of You, RL, and Wayne.
I'm in the background in the Flaming Lips shirt...
http://www.oregonlive.com/cycling/index ... _park.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Confidential to Mr. Bird: Daks and I are supremely jealous of the pic of You, RL, and Wayne.
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miftah
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
Heee heee.
"Fear of the bee means the honey is for me" - Jhonn Balance
Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
I fear I may be too much of a conspiracy theorist on this issue. There are so many freaking oil company lobbyists that are paying for elections and buying out congress that they can keep new technology down while keeping gas prices high. All it takes is a big oil company, say for instance American Petroleum Institute, to pay for a presidential election, say for instance George Bush, and then the bastard becomes president. All of the sudden we have Big Oil lobbyists like Philip A. Cooney being appointed by Bush as a white house climate scientist, who is doing case studies on the negative environmental effects of burning oil. Turn out the effects aren't as bad as we thought....yeah right. Gee, I wonder if Cooney is still getting money from the Oil industry, I'll bet he is.
I haven't found anything to confirm this, but I've heard that there are 3 oil lobbyists for every member of congress. That's just the oil lobbyists. I've also heard that the oil companies pay the car companies to continue making fuel burning vehicles and shut down any research that goes into making it more efficient or using other sources of fuel. No wonder gas prices are so high, the oil companies are paying millions of dollars hand over fist to lobbyists, car companies and politicians and we are the ones paying the bill. It's all about the greed. Politicians and oil executives want to suck every pretty penny they can out of the American people.
This is a double edged sword and I myself should not be so critical of the system, but there are good things and bad things afloat here. The one thing that everyone should consider, above our wallets and all else, is the environment. That being said, I don't exactly drive a hybrid or ride my bike to work. I will try to walk to ride my bike if I'm making a short trip, but even sometimes then I'm just too lazy and decide to drive. I'm trying to be more conscientious about the environment, but I admit that I could do a lot more.
On one side, the gas prices are going up and it is forcing people to find alternatives, which is good. On the other side, people need to get to work to make what money they can to survive in this falling economy, so they need their transportation and they need lower gas prices. This is why we need to start pursuing the alternatives.
Up until this point, the oil companies have completely dominated the supply/demand curve of the oil product. The American people have a high demand for oil to fill their cars that get them to work to make money. The motorized vehicle is an essential tool of the American way of life. Everything that we buy at a store was sent there via plane or truck, both of which use fuel, which drives up the prices of everything we buy. The power of the dollar is going down as the cost of things are going up.
Oil companies have agreed not to play in a competitive market, but I hope it will get to the point where this deteriorates. I know that there will be a threshold where the people will decide to look elsewhere for transportation. Who knows if it will be at $5 a gallon or $20, but I think it will happen. At some point it will become more profitable for the auto manufacturers to say no to the money from oil companies and listen to their people and create more efficient motors. When people have hit their limits and only buy the new cars from companies that have done R&D to create a car that is more fuel efficient than ever, the other auto companies will also have to convert to a more efficient motor.
I think that eventually the people will revolt against gas prices, but not for a while. We will probably give up the typical luxuries before we give up the luxury of convenience. I know gas prices will continue to steadily rise, and much faster than our buying power rises. If it gets to a point where it costs more money to commute to work than one would get by actually going to work, people fill fight back.
I haven't found anything to confirm this, but I've heard that there are 3 oil lobbyists for every member of congress. That's just the oil lobbyists. I've also heard that the oil companies pay the car companies to continue making fuel burning vehicles and shut down any research that goes into making it more efficient or using other sources of fuel. No wonder gas prices are so high, the oil companies are paying millions of dollars hand over fist to lobbyists, car companies and politicians and we are the ones paying the bill. It's all about the greed. Politicians and oil executives want to suck every pretty penny they can out of the American people.
This is a double edged sword and I myself should not be so critical of the system, but there are good things and bad things afloat here. The one thing that everyone should consider, above our wallets and all else, is the environment. That being said, I don't exactly drive a hybrid or ride my bike to work. I will try to walk to ride my bike if I'm making a short trip, but even sometimes then I'm just too lazy and decide to drive. I'm trying to be more conscientious about the environment, but I admit that I could do a lot more.
On one side, the gas prices are going up and it is forcing people to find alternatives, which is good. On the other side, people need to get to work to make what money they can to survive in this falling economy, so they need their transportation and they need lower gas prices. This is why we need to start pursuing the alternatives.
Up until this point, the oil companies have completely dominated the supply/demand curve of the oil product. The American people have a high demand for oil to fill their cars that get them to work to make money. The motorized vehicle is an essential tool of the American way of life. Everything that we buy at a store was sent there via plane or truck, both of which use fuel, which drives up the prices of everything we buy. The power of the dollar is going down as the cost of things are going up.
Oil companies have agreed not to play in a competitive market, but I hope it will get to the point where this deteriorates. I know that there will be a threshold where the people will decide to look elsewhere for transportation. Who knows if it will be at $5 a gallon or $20, but I think it will happen. At some point it will become more profitable for the auto manufacturers to say no to the money from oil companies and listen to their people and create more efficient motors. When people have hit their limits and only buy the new cars from companies that have done R&D to create a car that is more fuel efficient than ever, the other auto companies will also have to convert to a more efficient motor.
I think that eventually the people will revolt against gas prices, but not for a while. We will probably give up the typical luxuries before we give up the luxury of convenience. I know gas prices will continue to steadily rise, and much faster than our buying power rises. If it gets to a point where it costs more money to commute to work than one would get by actually going to work, people fill fight back.
Peanut Butter Jelly Time! 
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Gooch
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
I recently bought a bike, even though I don't drive. It's about a 3 mile ride to work, takes me about 15-20 minutes. After the last couple weeks, I really wish I could drive.
If you're gonna be dumb you better be tough.
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eddiecanuck
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
I'd LOVE to have a 3 mile drive to work. I'd ride my bike every day (or walk) and save a TON of money. My current 27 mile drive (one way) sucks ass. Luckily it nice out now and the motorcycle gets almost 40 mi/gal. If I had the cash, I'd definitely look at an alternative vehicle. Heck I'm seriously considering the carpool thing, and I hate carpooling with people I don't know.
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bio
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
Remember the rule of supply and demand?Deater wrote:On one side, the gas prices are going up and it is forcing people to find alternatives, which is good.
Apparently, US consumers reduced the amount of miles they drove by 9 Billion last month. 9 BILLION MILES.... in one month!!
That means that the demand is lower, right? That means prices should drop, right? HAH! The price of oil jumped when that was announced do to a concern of "softening in the American market".
Oh... fuck it all. I ride the bus.
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Re: Gas prices, what's the real answer?
Yea, that's what's been bugging me about this. For gas prices to seriously jump, I'd expect at least once gas station to be all "OH FUCK! SORRY KIDS WE COULDN'T FIND ANY GAS!"
There's plenty of gasoline to be had. It's just pricey.
There's plenty of gasoline to be had. It's just pricey.
