Gas price up higher than ever

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

What about wind energy??? [...]The wind is free, dammit - why do they charge a premium for the energy produced from a free source????

Yah the wind is free, but those huge supremely sophisticated turbines are pricey as all get out.

Actually it's more complex than that.

Energy is Fungible.

An Erg of energy in East Bazoo produced by fairy dust and wishes (assuming that you can produce energy that way) will sell for the same same price that a similar quantity of energy produced elsewhere by oil, coal, gas, nuke, or any other source.

Reason: If the Irish are paying $10.00 for a gallon of fuel that high price controls the price I can get for my energy that I made from fairy dust and wishes. The economy is global and energy is fungible.

[Craig D Peltier]

Why does gas go up the next morning when its the same gas in the gas stations tank? They paid the same.
My dad swears that all %100 of gas comes from the same source.They just put there name on it. Hmmm

I hate big companies.We have no say.

[Jim Becker]

$2.82 today...and I didn't fill up 'cause I know I'll be in New Jersey early in the week and it's 15-20 cents less there...

Interestingly enough, I was in Houston this week and the prices there are about the same as here in the SE PA area...and they make the stuff there!

[Curt Fuller]

$2.79 for Regular here in Northern Utah. Less than 100 miles away are hundreds of capped wells I worked on during the early 80's energy boom in the Wyoming overthrust belt. But regardless of the price of gas or which alternative you think will work best, something has to change. The price is only a minor inconvenience compared to problems of burning oil.

If you have a little time to listen, NPR's Science Friday had a very interesting program today....
http://www.sciencefriday.com/pages/2...r1_042007.html

[Jason Roehl]

I filled up a few hours ago in Batesville, IN (halfway betwixt Indy and Cincy) for $2.819 for the regular stuff. I saw a station 40 miles later (wouldn't have made it) at $2.699.

Just 9 years ago, I filled my truck for $0.799/gal.

[Rich Stewart]

Hey Cliff, That adds up to 102%. And USA isn't even on the list? Don't we produce ANY of our own oil?

2.59 today down from 2.61 yesterday. Don't know why everyone is so down on oil companies. They are businesses and as such are there to make money. If you don't like the price, don't buy their product. That's the only thing that will make the price go down.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
$2.65 to $2.79 to $285 - depending on where/which stations in the Akron/Cleveland Ohio area.

Kind of a side note -
Being the "Curious George" that I am, I've been looking at the theory that oil is abiotic in origin.
Basically, what that entails, is that some scientists are leaning towards the idea that oil is produced deep in the mantle by natural process from methane. Common belief is that oil is organic and comes from decayed material from millions of years ago.

If the abiotic theory is correct, then oil deposits would/could be found even on planets that had no organic life. - say Mars?
Makes you wonder about the recently announced Chinese Mars mission
Emerging industrial country hungry for oil and all that stuff

LOL! 'scuse me while I adjust the tinfoil headgear

"Don't we produce ANY of our own oil?"
- Rich
Yep. It's kind of a two edged sword. We do have considerable reserves. In a way, it's like money in the oil bank. As long as we can buy OPEC oil, and deplete their stock, our stock will become more valuable in the future.
Least that's the jist of the "peak oil" postulate.
As long as we (the US) can use up other counties oil, without dipping into our own, then at some point down the road, we (the US) will be in a role reversal situation. We'll be the ones that supply oil to countries like China that are at (in the future) the point that we are now in oil consumption.
The real trick is to do it in a way that doesn't "annoy the customers" so much that they simply invade and take it, rather than buy it.
One way to look at it is that by us using foreign oil now, we're securing a place for our grandchildren's (global) economic future, when the US becomes a major exporter of crude.

[David G Baker]

Rich,
To get a fill up, wouldn't that take an awful long hose?
Tinfoil head gear in place.

[Rich Engelhardt]

hehe,
Yep.
Wonder if Marvin with his illudium Q 5 space modulator does the full service

[Belinda Barfield]

Anyone want to weigh in on the "garbage to fuel" plants? IIRC the first one in the US was near a large poultry processing facility. I know that initially it was not "profitable" as a plant did not produce enough surplus energy. It did, however, provide enough energy to run the processing plant. As the technology improves maybe this would be an option.

Under the as yet unknown energy source umbrella, maybe someone out there has an idea for doing something with all those batteries were killing.

[Mitchell Andrus]

The real hurdles to overcome with energy in general...

Storage and Delivery

Reliable sources:
Hydro-Electric is stored in lakes and rivers and delivered via wire.
Fossil-Electric is stored (post refinery) in tanks for oil and underground and at mines for coal, and delivered via wire.
Nat. Gas is stored underground and in tanks and delivered via pipe.
Fossil Oil is stored (post refinery) in tanks and delivered via pipe and point of use tanks.
Nuclear-Electric is stored as fuel pellets and delivered via wire.


Unreliable sources:
Wind-Electric subject to calm weather outages and has no storage capability other than point-of-use batteries.
Solar-Electric has no 'buffer' storage capability for nite and weather outages, other than point-of-use batteries.
Grain-Oils are stored in tanks and delivered via pipe and point of use tanks, but is prone to crop failure outages and a shortage of fertile soil.

So, what do we do?

[Dennis Peacock]

Unreliable sources:
Grain-Oils are stored in tanks and delivered via pipe and point of use tanks, but is prone to crop failure outages and a shortage of fertile soil.

So, what do we do?

Just spread around more manure and keep planting.

[Joe Chritz]

Craig it is a commodity item. The price isn't set by what you paid for it but by what you have to pay to replace it. It is fairly common for a number of goods.

The only complaint I had with the oil companies is that a 100% increase in the price of crude shouldn't increase the final product price 100% unless they have no overhead or labor. Granted those costs would also rise because they have to buy fuel and heat but it wouldn't be as much. That is a huge jump on my part and maybe their costs are increasing at such a rate.

Joe

[Curt Harms]

Craig it is a commodity item. The price isn't set by what you paid for it but by what you have to pay to replace it. It is fairly common for a number of goods.

The only complaint I had with the oil companies is that a 100% increase in the price of crude shouldn't increase the final product price 100% unless they have no overhead or labor. Granted those costs would also rise because they have to buy fuel and heat but it wouldn't be as much. That is a huge jump on my part and maybe their costs are increasing at such a rate.

Joe

They wouldn't be announcing record profits if they weren't doing well. Watch somebody try to take oil companies private so they don't have to disclose financial results.

[Fred Chan]

You guys are lucky! Regular gas here costs $1.21 per liter.