UPS and biodiesel
- Thread starter soberups
- Start date
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
To add to that, I believe it is only $.29/gallon in Venezuela.
satellitedriver
Moderator
A simple garden hose and one can get their gas free, as long as you don't get caught.
moreluck
golden ticket member
Gas may only be .29 in Carracas, but I'd rather pay the $4 a gallon than to trade in our sewer system and other modern conviences. Have you seen the shacks there stacked on top of each other with open pipes flowing down on the property below?? Terrible poverty and unsanitary conditions.
satellitedriver
Moderator
US citizens do not have a clue.
My uncle is in a grave in Caracas.
Luckily, his 80yr old wife and their children, and grandchildren are safe in America.
Legally, BTW.
1989
Well-Known Member
several countries subsidize gas for their citizens. The fact is there is a shortage. A supply of 85 million barrels and a demand of 87 million barrels a day. Oil will hit $150 by the end of the year.
upsgrunt
Well-Known Member
My sources tell me it will top off at about $135 and then be $90 to $95 by November. My sources are gas speculators- take it or leave it.
There is one called the tesla roadster.
100% electric
0 - 60 in 3.9 secs
13,000 rpm redline
~135 mpg
220 miles per charge
and its only starts at $100,000
there used to be a video of it beating a Ferrari in a quarter mile but i cant seem to find it now
http://www.teslamotors.com/
Gallons of what?
its a Equivalent Petroleum Fuel Efficiency comparison. wiki talks about it on their web page. it ranges from 35mpg to 350mpg depending on how you compare it to a gas engine. the web page probably does a better job explaining it than i will.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster
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UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
I was reading today's paper and there was a story regarding theft of used cooking oil which can be converted into biofuel. What used to be a commodity that restaurants had to pay to get rid of is now a highly valued commodity that people are willing to risk prosecution to steal. We are also experiencing a rash of catalytic converters being stolen right off of parked vehicles and then brought to the scrap yard to be sold for cash.
How many of you are old enough to remember the gas lines during the '70s where rationing and odd/even system were used, fights were common and shortages were rampant? There are some experts who seem to think that we may be in line to repeat these, if not this year, then certainly next.
More, I agree--if given the choice, I would gladly pay the $4/gal.
How many of you are old enough to remember the gas lines during the '70s where rationing and odd/even system were used, fights were common and shortages were rampant? There are some experts who seem to think that we may be in line to repeat these, if not this year, then certainly next.
More, I agree--if given the choice, I would gladly pay the $4/gal.
feeder53
ADKtrails
I`ll bet the food prices at those places will drop because they can sell the used oil.........And I remember the even/odd gas lines of the 70s, If I remember correctly,I had commercial plates and could get gas on any day IF they had it. There used to be people pushing their cars in the lines as they ran out of gas waiting.....Was not pretty.
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
Diesel just crossed the $5/gal mark here in Plattsburgh today.
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
I hope it gets to $200 a barrel and $8 or $9 a gallon. Seriously. The reality is that we could produce ALL our own fuel from algae, soy, and other renewable resources if we were willing to invest the $$. Renewable fuels cannot compete with cheap oil, but if the cost of imported crude keeps climbing it will force us to start making better choices. I made a choice 2 years ago to drive a car that gets almost 40 MPG on biodiesel, I have no sympathy at all for someone who chose to pay 30 grand for a full-sized SUV and now complains about the cost of fueling it.
upsgrunt
Well-Known Member
And what do you think the price of biodiesel is going to do when the demand for that starts going up? Do you realize how much water is used to process ethanol? I think it is like 2 gallons for every gallon of ethanol that is produced. Water is too precious of a commodity to be wasted to get a ratio like that. Sober you talk a big talk a lot of the time while at the same time condemning others that don't align with you. In reality, you are no better, or smarter than any of us. I'm not trying to rag, but come down and talk with us instead of at us.
pretzel_man
Well-Known Member
Sober,
I think its an important and interesting topic. However, I attended a conference recently and reviewed some research on biofuel.
I don't remember all the details, but the conclusion from the university research was that about 17% of our needs could be met with biofuel.
They also analyzed the efficiency of soy vs. corn. Corn was a clear winner in the amount of resources needed to produce fuel.
I think another question will be how much land and water we can devote to biofuel. If resources (land / water) are used for fuel, will this impact food prices.
Who knows, this demand may make farming profitable again.
P-Man
I have a herd a lot about switchgrass being used for biofuel. It is suppose to have a better energy ratio (energy in to energy out) than corn and it can be grown on land that is not favorable for other crops. it also uses water more efficiently than corn.
https://web.archive.org/web/20141008004430/https://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/switgrs.html
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
Biofuels from agricultural products are a dead end. The real solution is biodiesel produced from algae. Algae can be farmed in the desert, using brackish water or even untreated sewage. It wouldn't require arable land and it doesnt have to compete with food.
The problem is one of economics. It is still cheaper to drill for oil...although if the cost of a military occupation in Iraq is factored in it really isnt any cheaper, its just that those costs are not being borne by the end consumer of the fuel but are intead being passed onto future generations in the form of debt.
If fossil fuel were taxed to pay for our military and eliminate the federal deficit, it could cost $8 or $9 a gallon. This would allow biofuels to compete on a level playing field. Combine that with a switch to diesel-electric hybrid vehicles that get 50-60 MPG, and we could be energy independent.
This technology already exists. It is simlply a matter of making it economically viable. Whether we like it or not, oil will run out one day. We need to start making changes now.
soberups
Pees in the brown Koolaid
We get about 1/3 of our oil from Canada, a large portion of which is produced from the tar sands of Alberta. It takes about 7 barrels of water to produce a barrel of oil from the tar sands. Water is too precious of a commodity to be wasted to get a ratio like that.
www.tarsandswatch.org
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