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Automotive News & Views How does gas at $4 and higher impact you?
2183 messages, Last post on Nov 21, 2009 at 5:13 PM
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Replying to: dave8697 (Sep 23, 2008 8:20 am) Actually, that will be ending very soon. I read stories almost every week of solar panel breakthroughs. Silicon prices are coming down too. There are already solar roof tiles, and solar windows, and solar skylights. Soon solar will be built into walls and easily put into windows. Someone, someday, WILL reach 8 to 10 cents per kwH for solar technology. It is as certain as the fact that fossil fuels will eventually run out. |
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Replying to: larsb (Sep 22, 2008 1:27 pm) Quickly is a very subjective word, so it's impossible to say you're incorrect, but... To provide people with more electricity is not just a matter of constructing more power plants in many locations. The transmission lines are only designed to handle so many amps at a certain voltage. You can not just say convert all houses using oil to electric, as the lines would not handle it. Similarly people's houses may not have adequate breaker-boxes; especially older homes, to handle the number of amps needed. Similarly you can't just say because there is a lot of natural gas available people can just go ahead and convert. The gas-line main ends 45 miles from our city. And the size of that line may just be adequate for the places using that N.G. So how long do you think it would take to run large gas-lines from the fields, running them hundreds of miles, and then running lines to every house over thousands of square miles, just here in the small state of NH? You'd burn millions of gal. of diesel fuel in the construction equipment ove rthe years, before the first molecules of natural gas ever got down the pipeline. Your solutions sound good, until you look at the reality of how you'd actually implement them. |
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Replying to: nippononly (Sep 22, 2008 12:14 pm) I posted the graph earlier in this thread... The 'Christmas low' last year was at $3.00 a gallon nationallly. The national average In late 4th Qtr this year is the key number to watch in order to make a good guesstimate for the next 'Driving Season' in May/June/July 09. From the Christmas low of $3.00 in Dec 07 the peak this year was $4.25-ish in June/July. Watch this season. If the average national price stays stuck around $3.40 - $3.50 / gal then I think that we can expect $4.50-$4.75 on average next Spring ( $5.50-ish in CA, NY, etc ). Or... as I've suggested herein previously... just plan on a $0.50 per gallon increase in average fuel prices over the next 'x' years out into the future. Over the last 5 yrs or so that's been a good estimate. It may actually be a little too conservative.
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Replying to: kernick (Sep 23, 2008 10:08 am) There are no easy solutions, but the key is to decide on one or more and get to work on them. That's why Pickens has such good ideas. Get the wind power and NG infrastructure built ASAP and get off foreign oil sooner than later. For about half of the $700 billion we spend every year on foreign oil, we can build a lot of power lines and lay a lot of gas lines pretty dang fast.
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Sep 23, 2008 10:17 am) That's really unlikely because as you just saw high gas prices cause overall higher prices, which causes financial problems for millions, and then this causes financial chaos, and stops growth, which in turn moderates oil and gas prices. Unless wages were to inflate with the gas price there is no way gas/oil prices can rise faster. There is a limit to how much people can pay for oil and gas.
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Replying to: larsb (Sep 23, 2008 10:19 am) I agree that should be the attitude, but the attitude is that every project no matter how small goes through XXX environmental studies and challenges and takes years. And because this process is so daunting few people and businesses will invest in such a venture. So if you think the president and Congress should just say dang-the-process (they can change it), and just "Do it" then I'll gladly sign your petition. But this will involve cutting some trees, digging trenches for hundreds of miles, killing birds with turbines ... I'm sure you will hear of environmentalists chaining themselves to the trees and such, and they'll have to be arrested and jailed. Actually if you want a society where things can done quickly, you want a dictatorship, or a hive mentality; not a democracy. No dissension or discussion allowed, to delay projects. |
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Replying to: kernick (Sep 23, 2008 10:21 am) While we are the largest consumers we are nowhere near the fastest growing consumers. The fastest growth in consumption is all in Asia. Yes we may save millions of bbls annually by switching to alternate sources or just by cutting back. That won't stop the inexorable increase in the price of fuel in the entire world. This is in fact one single market. Our usage is a large but shrinking part of the overall view. Or... you can just plan that prices will fall...and hope. I prefer to plan for the worst and benefit when it doesn't occur. Wanna bet against $4.50 - $5.00 gas next spring?
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Replying to: kdhspyder (Sep 23, 2008 10:17 am) In the short term I expect it to plateau for a while. Time to call the gas company for a credit limit increase. 
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