[Diesel42]

Amazing to see how a mere 230 years ago Americans felt the same way as we do now. So they stood up and thumbed there noses to England which started a war. Americans were victorious and alast, free. Free from excessive taxation, over rule,etc. And here we are again. Probably worse off now then when we were ruled by a King. And for the record, we(Americans that is) are not a Democracy. But rather suppost to be a Republic. But hey, none us this is going to get my lancruiser finished so off to the shop i go for some more sandblasting.

[bagh33ra]

Originally Posted by cruiser_guy

I say it's time to really go with the bio-diesel from otherwise useless bio-mass NOT food stuffs.

Algae.. said it before and I'll say it again. Algae blows all other feed stock crops out of the water in terms of oil yield per crop.

That said, can't find my last fill up receipt, but I remember it was about $72 for the tank - somewhere in the $4/gal range Nor Cali.

Seriously, Biodiesel. Even though the pricing is going to be on-par if not more expensive than dino-diesel for a variety of crappy reasons it's still worth doing just to prevent the money from getting funneled back into the petroleum complex.

Saw a Safeway delivery rig the other day that had a big fat "Powered by biodiesel" sticker on it. No way to know what blend they are running, could be b10 just to say they are doing it for marketing purposes, or could be b99-b100. Given all of their big distribution centers in Stockton and Tracy (and access to their own waste oil from in-store deli fryers) it totally makes sense for them to go that route.

Short-haul trucking, construction equipment, towing companies, school bus fleets. So many opportunities to get BioD into the industrial/commercial sectors. Start there, start making a dent. Consumer availability will follow and we won't have seek out the 1 place in the area that actually sells it.

Personally, I'm fine with it being expensive, I just don't want it to be based on foreign petroleum any more.

[83bj60]

Originally Posted by M John Galt

Governments do lots of things that are morally and ethically wrong.

So??

People can complain all they want about high fuel prices and government policy, and it won't change anything.

I know you are just as angry as I am, and that you understand unfocused anger is useless. Consumer anger may not do much, but consumer activism can have an effect:

1) keep posting fuel prices online so that fellow consumers will avoid the gougers.

2) start driving at the minimum permissible speed on the highway. Truckers have been doing it, it's not going to get any better.

3) Fill up in $5 increments using your credit card at the fuel station. Credit card purchases cost a lot and generate a lot of paperwork. That puts pressure on the retailer, which puts pressure on the oil companies that set the prices.

[83bj60]

Originally Posted by bagh33ra

Seriously, Biodiesel. Even though the pricing is going to be on-par if not more expensive than dino-diesel for a variety of crappy reasons it's still worth doing just to prevent the money from getting funneled back into the petroleum complex.

[...]

Personally, I'm fine with it being expensive, I just don't want it to be based on foreign petroleum any more.

100% with you, as long as its produced from recycled waste and biomass. I cannot condone feeding cars when people go hungry. It's just plain wrong!

[eleblanc]

Originally Posted by M John Galt

Governments do lots of things that are morally and ethically wrong.

So??

People can complain all they want about high fuel prices and government policy, and it won't change anything.

Things maybe run differently up here, anyhow the thinking is the same. Cut down on fuel taxe and consequently cut down on road repairs budget, but keep public transport in good shape.....somehow...

[Diescipel]

$4.50 USD/gal for B99 here in Coa$tal Northern Cali.

I will 2nd folks' comments on the biofuel-food problem. Experts are giving warnings that this could turn into a really bad problem: famine, unrest etc. The biodiesel I buy is all waste oil derived.

RE: fuel prices. I would argue we don't have so much a tax problem (in Cali I think it's like $.35/gal or something? for state and fed. taxes) as a market problem. To this end, raising fuel efficiency standards via the political process and driving less are two concrete things that will reduce demand, save you money in the short run, and lower prices eventually. The problem is getting enough people to do it (difficult with a culture of macho vanity that puts value on engine power over everything else).

B

[M John Galt]

The "Biofuels Take Food From Our Mouths" argument is based on fallacy. Most of the two common N.American biofuel feedstocks, corn and soybeans, are grown for animals to feed the industrial meat business producing pork, poultry and beef. Processing these feedstocks to extract sugars or oils to make biofuels, makes the byproduct 'seed cake' and 'spent mash' more digestible as animal feed. Thus the animals get more nutrition from the byproduct than the original feedstock, and less is crapped out as waste. We can get food and fuel from the same crop.

Granted that the feedstock grains and legumes could be exported to feed the starving millions instead of being used to feed meat animals. But that practice has been going on for decades, is not likely to change, and is totally external to the biofuels issue.

The world's poor are not starving because of biofuels but rather due to a variety of causes including local corruption which 're-directs' food aid, and the fact that 50% of the world's population no longer lives in rural areas where they fed themselves, but now live in sprawling mega slums where food has to be shipped in at ever increasing transportation costs due to rising petroleum prices.

[cruiser_guy]

Originally Posted by bagh33ra

Algae.. said it before and I'll say it again. Algae blows all other feed stock crops out of the water in terms of oil yield per crop.

Personally, I'm fine with it being expensive, I just don't want it to be based on foreign petroleum any more.

Algae is best for diesel as you can grow it where other things won't grow so you do not affect the rapidly rising food costs. Those food cost increases have very real and present danger attached here in the developing world. Already the Haitian PM has been ousted because of that and it WILL get worse, MUCH worse! Ethanol is only going to add to the problems NOT help anything as it is a derivative of grain.

No more dependance on Muslim oil means they won't have as much reason or more importantly, money to turn against us with. Wouldn't it be nice to thumb your nose at Chavez and the Muslim world when they try to sell oil and we don't need to buy it.

Here in Guatemala diesel has reached the $4/US gallon mark at Q30. Less than a year ago it was Q23 or less.

[M John Galt]

If and when algal oil moves out of the research lab into commercial production it might provide some alternative to petroleum, but not to meet the enormous demand for fuel in N.America. Fuel from oil sands and coal are the future, however as long as the MidEast fields keep producing imported oil appears to be cheaper.

[rgsiii]

3.99 USD/US gallon in Alabama.

[lowenbrau]

As cool as bio fuels are, especially when produced from algae in deserts, they are never going to be as cheap as current oil prices. All you have to do to get oil is drill a hole. It's all reap and no sow. When oil reaches $250/ barrel in three or four years, the alternatives will really take off.

[M John Galt]

No energy besides PV solar will ever be as cheap as current oil prices.

[ETN4Runner]

$3.959 in east tennessee

[M John Galt]

There will always be places where fuel is cheaper or more expensive than where you are. So what's the point of posting prices every time fuel goes up?

[79fj40moneypit]

In Colchester, CT. Fuel went down to $4.38 from $4.40 and then two towns over it was $4.63!

[JONNYFJ]

4.10$ A gallon in San Antonio :( so much 4 the 4BT swap

[83bj60]

Originally Posted by M John Galt

There will always be places where fuel is cheaper or more expensive than where you are. So what's the point of posting prices every time fuel goes up?

So we can avoid these the gougers!!!
GasBuddy.com - Find Low Gas Prices in the USA and Canada

[air_wolf]

in Romania, 1.84$/litre. medium salary: 500$/month. nice.

[83bj60]

Originally Posted by air_wolf

in Romania, 1.84$/litre. medium salary: 500$/month. nice.

That is awful, considering your country is one of the premier european oil producers (or at least was a few years ago) :(

[Eric Winkworth]

I paid a 1.29 a liter for the CDM spec 3B yesterday the bill cam to 106.00 for just under 90 liters freakin rediculous....

I was noticing the other day how many domestic cars in my area have stickers that say "Out of a job yet? keep buying foreign" I was thinking to myself my corolla and my gf's sentra were both made in Canada. So shouldn't we all have stickers that say "My foreign car was made in canada, where was your domestic built?
Or out of a job yet, keep buying foreign crap from malwart and cars and trucks from mehico...

[air_wolf]

Originally Posted by 83bj60

That is awful, considering your country is one of the premier european oil producers (or at least was a few years ago) :(

the price of our oil is the same as the price of the imported one... more profit for the companies... :(

but I have change my FJ62 3F (maybe I will convert it o 2H) with a HJ61 12H-T and I intend to run on home made whatever_will_give_a_spark

[cruiser_guy]

Originally Posted by Eric Winkworth

I was noticing the other day how many domestic cars in my area have stickers that say "Out of a job yet? keep buying foreign".

If UAW could build a car that actually stayed together as long as my 'Cruiser I might consider it. I had an '89 Dodge Cummins that seemed like it was falling apart with LESS miles than the 'Cruiser and the Dodge had street miles, the 'Cruiser has a combination of street and off road. I'm not dissing the Cummins engine but the truck was crap.

[SurfPonto]

Driving in to work today diesel was $4.39 a U.S. gallon (San Diego - North County).

Not sure I am imagining it or not but I think it has been going up 10 cents every couple weeks here.

Any truth to the rumour that diesel prices will actually drop in the summer?

Bob

[cruiser_guy]

Originally Posted by SurfPonto

Any truth to the rumour that diesel prices will actually drop in the summer?

Bob

I sure hope so! Otherwise I'll need to find a tanker trailer to bring some cheap Mexican diesel when I head north from Central America.

[M John Galt]

Originally Posted by SurfPonto

Any truth to the rumour that diesel prices will actually drop in the summer?

It might drop a few cents, don't expect much unless the US dollar makes some sort of miraculous improvement in value as compared with the world oil price in Euros for example.

It's not so much that fuel prices are rapidly rising, but rather that the US dollar is rapidly dropping in value.

For example, fuel prices in Canada have not increased nearly as much as fuel prices in the US.

Not out of a job yet? Keep buying cheap foreign crap at MalWart and that will change.

[Tapage]

Originally Posted by M John Galt

It might drop a few cents, don't expect much unless the US dollar makes some sort of miraculous improvement in value as compared with the world oil price in Euros for example.

It's not so much that fuel prices are rapidly rising, but rather that the US dollar is rapidly dropping in value.

For example, fuel prices in Canada have not increased nearly as much as fuel prices in the US.

Not out of a job yet? Keep buying cheap foreign crap at MalWart and that will change.

I thought ( based on my own opinion of the world situation ) that for the end of this year ( after the elections ) maybe the dolar start some little climb .. for the first 3 months of the 2009 the oil price maybe slow down the prices few cents .. and keep stable for the next year ..

[BillyGHusk]

Originally Posted by M John Galt

Not out of a job yet? Keep buying cheap foreign crap at MalWart and that will change.

bingo! we have a winner!!

[gbcruiser]

Diesel: $1.31 CDN/litre at Shell on Van Isle; about $118 to fill my Landcruiser HJ60. That gets me about 600kms mixed city/highway driving.

Gas: $1.21 CDN/litre at the same Shell. About $77 to fill my Vitara 4x4. That gets me about 600kms mixed city/highway driving.

The numbers are getting harder to ignore.

[lowenbrau]

Seriously. We ain't seen nothing yet.

[canucksafari]

It'll come down for the summer - at least in Canada - when people decide not to drive so far this year for vacations or just to stay home. Its supply and demand plus the fact that we have elections very possible in Canada. For some wierd reason, fuel prices always seem to be lower before an election here.