Whats the solution for gas prices?

[Crust]

Seems nothing is killing our economy more than the price of gas. People are hesitant to go any where that is not really necessary, or at least thinking twice about it. This in turn leads to lower revenue for establishments which in turn need to raise prices to accommodate for the loss of attendance. It also translates to food and retail goods...Costs more to transport, alot more and those costs are being passed on to the consumers.

Whats the solution? I know we all have the long-term solutions, but its the short term thats the problem. Alternative energy is an answer that is many many years off for the mainstream. In the mean time, the damage continues making that goal get further and further away.

Do you think regulation of an out of control oil industry might be in order? I mean, I'm not for big government but at times like this we sort of need the authority of the feds to step in. I understand that the cost of crude has gone up, but a 100% increase in the cost of crude should not translate into a 300-400% increase in the cost of gas.

I've heard suggestions of picking one of the major oil companies and just simply banning together and not buying gas from them until their prices fall drastically...Then pick a new company to boycott until they follow suit. Problem is we are not so cohesive of a nation and it would be next to impossible to pull this off. Maybe if there was a heavy media blitz with a great degree of organization this could happen...But until it starts to hurt the upper class this probably wont happen.

What do you think is going to happen? What do you think would help this crisis?

[Beastmaster]

ride your bike

[greenie]

we invaded a country made of oil, it literally FLOATS on it. if that doesnt drop prices, nothings gonna. pretty soon people will be stealing gas trucks, and sellin em on the black market. hopefully anway.

[mycobrain]

Do a barrel roll....this would cause an uproar within your community and eventually the entire nation....only you can make a difference

[Crust]

Originally Posted by Beastmaster

ride your bike

Been riding my hog, that does help quite a bit. As far as a bicycle goes, living in urban sprawl with 50+ mile drives to work not being uncommon that would be impractical. But for those in smaller towns, absolutely! Ride them bicycles!!!

Originally Posted by greenie

we invaded a country made of oil, it literally FLOATS on it. if that doesnt drop prices, nothings gonna. pretty soon people will be stealing gas trucks, and sellin em on the black market. hopefully anway.

I hear ya, I always ask "What ever happened to us stealing Iraq's oil?" which was a battle cry for years amongst the anti-war crowd. The whole "No blood for oil" thing. Where's all this blood-oil?

One thing that does help a whole bunch is driving differently. Modify your driving habits. I see it all the time, people winding out through all the gears...Goosing it at every green light and going over 70 on the freeway. That eats so much gas. If every one were to just ease on the gas and shift early or keep it below a certain RPM for automatics...They would see savings add up over time. For example, I have a 5 mile downhill stretch to my office every day. My truck goes into neutral and I coast the whole thing doing 50mph...I've done this for the past 6 years, every day. I'm sure that put quite a few bucks into my pocket. I get about 25 miles a gallon +-...Thats about a gallon a week I save by having it at idle for 5 miles...multiplied by 50 weeks for 6 years. Thats some nice skank at say $3.00 a gallon!

[greenie]

u mean 4 bucks a gallon? LOL

[Hippie3]

pretty sure that attacking the oil super corporations
would only make matters much worse.
if we 'nationalize' all their assets, communist-style,
every oil-producing nation would stop doing business with us,
so too would banks of many nations.
you couldn't sell u.s. treasury notes for a nickle on the dollar.

we'd in essence become an outlaw nation,
and we don't have enough fuels to run our economy .
so rule that out.

the simple truth is that
there is no fix.
the equation is unsolvable,
at least in any positive sense.
things are only going to get worse,
and that for some considerable time.
that's the reality.

oil is running low,
mexico state-run oil company just announced
a 7.8% drop in its' production-
because of dwindling reserves.
their wells are running dry.
we can't be sure how much retrievable oil is
still left in the ground,
much of the last drops will never be pumped
as it's just prohibitively expensive to reach and extract.

the world population is soaring
and industrial nations like china and india are buying cars
like there's no tomorrow.

then you have the iranians and the israelis -
much of the current high price is
corporate insurance against the day
when that war goes hot
and the flow of oil from the middle east
is stopped cold.

the top oil execs are betting on war,
they believe that now is the time to
squeeze every last dollar they can
before the whole region goes up in a mushroom cloud.
i would not care to bet against them.

oil will continue to rise in price
until the coming war with iran is over
and the damages repaired.

but even then it won't come back down.
you just cannot change the math
of a fuel supply that is fast running dry.

[Crust]

I hear ya Greenie, in fairness I was trying to average out the cost of gas over the past 6 years. Thats how I came up with $3.00 (ahh, the good ol days)

Yeah, thats true hippie. Sucks ass I say. Did any one hear that Brazil announced they may have found the third largest reserve in the world off their coast? Smoke and mirrors? I don't know. But it's kind of nice that we've been warming up to them for the past several decades. I say smoke and mirrors because of the operation last month when they went into Ecuador to kill a couple dozen terrorists. Seems the whole regions panties got in a bunch and as I stated before I wouldn't be surprised if we somehow played a role in the operation...A ploy to get Chavez to shut his pie-hole? To show him he may no longer be the oil super-power in the region? Who knows.

You're right when you say the wells are drying up. I've heard that from other sources and the prospects are quite scary...But one is left to wonder how much un-tapped oil we have as on a tit-for-tat scale, we have not nearly ran the level of extraction these Middle Eastern countries has. Is that to say we don't have huge reserves? I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised if after they run dry we go "Hey! Look what we found!".

Another thing that I wonder, don't we provide a bunch of food and exports to these arid desert regions? Couldn't we start, closing the pipe on our corn a bit and start charging a 300% markup for their essentials? Take the OPEC blue-print and run with it?

Either way, this is getting real bad. Maybe "Mad-Max" is closer than we think

In about a year and a half I'll finally be out of the city and in the country with at least an acre...Plan on growing and canning a lot of my food. Not paranoid, just not rich enough to keep up with inflation and have my toys. Lord knows I need my toys!!! Plus I'll be out of this royally fucked up state, the PRK...Peoples Republic of Kalifornia.

[Toecutter]

Originally Posted by Crust

In about a year and a half I'll finally be out of the city and in the country with at least an acre...Plan on growing and canning a lot of my food. Not paranoid, just not rich enough to keep up with inflation and have my toys. Lord knows I need my toys!!! Plus I'll be out of this royally fucked up state, the PRK...Peoples Republic of Kalifornia.

Yea, get the fuck out of the city man. if you want to find real
peace of mind, try gardening. aint nothing in the world like
harvesting your crops and putting them up for winter. i like to
have a beer in one hand, rest my arms and head on my hoe and
look at my ever growing garden. feels good.......dude

as far as gas prices go, opec stated that if the prices went
below $80 per barrel they would slow production. this is an
obvious money grab. it aint going to go away. there is really
one obstacle in producing an alternative power source and
that is money. our technology across the board is advancing
by leaps and bounds for everything excluding internal combustion.
intentional? fuck yea! until that leash is severed, mankind is
doomed to slavery. dont think that the bigwig oil fuckheads
arent slaves either. they are slaves to money.

[lysergic]

I've been riding my bike to work pretty much every day. Thank god I live close enough to work to be able to. I really only fill my tank once a month.

[lionelfire]

Originally Posted by Toecutter

Yea, get the fuck out of the city man. if you want to find real
peace of mind, try gardening. aint nothing in the world like
harvesting your crops and putting them up for winter. i like to
have a beer in one hand, rest my arms and head on my hoe and
look at my ever growing garden. feels good.......dude

as far as gas prices go, opec stated that if the prices went
below $80 per barrel they would slow production. this is an
obvious money grab. it aint going to go away. there is really
one obstacle in producing an alternative power source and
that is money. our technology across the board is advancing
by leaps and bounds for everything excluding internal combustion.
intentional? fuck yea! until that leash is severed, mankind is
doomed to slavery. dont think that the bigwig oil fuckheads
arent slaves either. they are slaves to money.

You're comments about internal combustion are spot on IMO. I just read a report that stated the U.S. government wants to mandate that all new cars must get at least 35 mpg by 2020. Hell, the Honda CRX got 52 hwy mpg 20 f*ing years ago. Now, I'm no geologist, but I cant see there being enough oil to supply the demand now, let alone in the year 2020.

[Toecutter]

See how they work! instead using alternative energy, they mandate
to make vehicles to use less of the same ole crap! cash, pure and
simple.

[lionelfire]

pretty clear to me that Washigton is in the back pockets of the oil and auto industries.

[Toecutter]

you said it brother!

[Nunyabiz]

Theres a hydrogen-creating device floating around that uses electricity and water to produce hydrogen.

You could use a mason jar or some other kind of container. Fill it with water. Stick wires in so that a current will flow through water hence creating hydrogen gas bubbles. There should be a hose coming from the top of the container that goes to the air intake of the vehicle.

Your engine will run more quietly, youll get double the gas mileage, its better for your engine and exhaust is cleaner.

Use two it may work even better. Even better use a motorbike with one..

I never tried it but know people who use em..

[Lookyhere]

What ever happened with Kuwait? We bailed their asses out, you'd think they'd help out with the oil problem. I have heard that oil is going to go up to $5 before the end of the year. History has dictated that if you wanted something and you were able to, take it. We should just take Iraq and make it West Carolina. Then take Kuait and make it East Carlolina. Then Saudi and Iran and we have East and West Dakota.

A lot of countries would be pissed off at us, but we'd have oil. A lot of wars have started over less than what is happening with our country and economy. Oh yeah, we would have to take Afghanistan too, maybe East Colorado. Or we could just call the whole region 'Little Texas'.

[Toecutter]

any oil company is part of the problem. the hydrogen should
be used to power a generator for an electric based vehicle.
ditch the internal combustion engine altogether.

[lysergic]

Originally Posted by Lookyhere

Or we could just call the whole region 'Little Texas'.

[greenie]

lets hear it for little texas! hip hip hooray!

[Crust]

Originally Posted by Lookyhere

What ever happened with Kuwait? We bailed their asses out, you'd think they'd help out with the oil problem. I have heard that oil is going to go up to $5 before the end of the year. History has dictated that if you wanted something and you were able to, take it. We should just take Iraq and make it West Carolina. Then take Kuait and make it East Carlolina. Then Saudi and Iran and we have East and West Dakota.

A lot of countries would be pissed off at us, but we'd have oil. A lot of wars have started over less than what is happening with our country and economy. Oh yeah, we would have to take Afghanistan too, maybe East Colorado. Or we could just call the whole region 'Little Texas'.

LOL!!! Thats freakin great, I LOVE it!!!

[warriorsoul]

Bring back methanol and grow hemp to make our food and fuel.

[bugs]

First, the hydrogen boondoggle. It's all hype. You can't get more (or even as much) energy out of hydrogen than what it takes to separate it from whatever other atom it's bonded to. For example, say you expend a kilowatt of electricity to separate the hydrogen out of som e quantity of water. Theoretically, you'll get enough hydrogen to equal that kilowatt when it's burned, or recombined with oxygen. Then you take the leakage losses, inefficiencies of conversion into, say, motion. You'll always get less energy out than you put in. It's just an inefficient means of transporting energy.

There will, I'm sure, be some new energy sources coming on line. Wind, hydro, geothermal, tidal, who knows what else?

But for the time being, we're an oil-driven nation and world. And the oil's running out.

In the western U.S., there are oil reserves far greater than the total reserves of Saudi Arabia. Shale oil and tar sands. These resources DWARF those of Alaska's north slope. It's real, and it's accessible. Canada is already making use of their shale and tar resources, and selling the product to the U.S. It wasn't the case a few years ago, but now it's economically feasible.

There are environmental consequences, but with careful design they can be minimized. By government estimates, it would take a minimum of six years to bring the extraction plants on line.

It would only be a stopgap, a cushion to ease the transition to a sustainable energy economy. But it's there, and we could use it to reduce our dependence on regimes inimical to the U.S.

[Hippie3]

hydrogen.
you know one problem ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster

[dragonstud725]

I seen somewere were a couple of guys were designing a car to run off compressed air ( pheumatics) it sounded like it could work.

[Doctor D]

Originally Posted by Hippie3

hydrogen.
you know one problem ?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindenburg_disaster

I'm a little concerned about all the water vapor these hydrogen cars are supposed to produce. Won't that make your traffic-congested cities unbearably humid?

[mydarling]

Originally Posted by Doctor D

I'm a little concerned about all the water vapor these hydrogen cars are supposed to produce. Won't that make your traffic-congested cities unbearably humid?

yeah, i agree. i feel someone ought to evaluate the potential climate/environmental impact of water emissions... mayhaps not as destructive as greenhouse gases, but if everyone were driving a hydrogen car, there must be some effect???? i can't imagine it would be a good one.

[Hippie3]

every time you exhale
you add water vapor.
even if you sweat
same deal.
if the sun comes out
humidity soars up from the soil.
when the atmosphere gets too much water
it rains.

[lovedinplaster]

the solution is boycotting. hippie had it right. nationalizing corporations is the worst idea ever. not only will it cause huge amounts of inflation(more), but it will also cause businesses to move, atleast over time. incentive to open businesses would drop.

[Doctor D]

According to the U.S. Department of Energy,

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) emit approximately the same amount of water per mile as vehicles using gasoline-powered internal combustion engines (ICEs).

So basically, no big deal.

[warriorsoul]

The direct methanol fuel cell
(DMFC) shows a lot of promise.
The methanol is injected directly into the cell,
where the methanol reacts to form
electrochemical energy and carbon dioxide.

[RAWShroomist]

As far as i know, there are 3 major things we can do... Drive Less, drive a veggie oil car, or drive a hybrid, or drive a car with high mileage/ gallon. I can already see it getting crazy with the gas... I bet it will hit ten dollars a gallon within ten years.

[Toecutter]

on frontline or some such a few months back, there was a guy that
was able to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water using
a specific radio frequency. its all about harmonics.
with the TC vehicle, the moisture would be collected in the
vehicle and re-used. no impact on the environment.