Silver Bullet for High Gasoline Prices

Would plugging a hybrid in actually reduce dependence on fossil fuels? Unless your home is powered by geothermal, hydro, wind or solar power, its still burning some kind of fossil fuel. . .

 

The plug-in hybrid is of particular interest to me. I work 3rd shift and a solar re-charging unit would be ideal - I could re-charge the batteries while I sleep. An article I read claims that the electricity needed by a rechargable hybrid would amount to about $.50 per gallon equivalent of gasoline. If that is true, the cost savings is great. Doing the recharge via solar would be even less. I wouldn't even mind changing out the battery pack, replacing a fully charged one for one that has been used, on a daily basis provided it was simple to do. Calcars is supposedly working on this with Toyota, so it may be coming sometime in the future.

 

> the demand for fuel will decrease...

Since the population continues to increase, stable is the best we could hope for. Expecting decrease would be unrealistic.

Realistically, the model is not that simple. The age-base continues to change, and the new have very different values from the old. Political leaders obviously have a profound influence on what happens too.

 

Extremely unrealistic. Saw an article on Reuters today saying that high gas prices is due to "increased worldwide demand" -- i.e., China. Supply and demand takes over.

The president of Toyotoa, in an interview in an article, said this was specifically one of the reasons he thought hybrid technology would be valuable to Toyota in the near future. Wise man -- I see why Toyota's stock is where it's at!

 

TonyPSchaefer neglects to take into account the non-renewable nature of fossil fuels. As supply diminishes price will rise.

An electric fleet will have minimal overall impact if the electricity is generated by fossil fuel, but this country has nearly unlimited renewable resources. If we just had the political will to change the way we think about energy and kick the Exxon monkey off our back we could probably relegate petroleum to petro-chemicals and get all our energy from domestic, renewable sources, of which solar and wind are perhaps the biggest, but with lots of smaller sources playing their part.

 

Then there's the crap we get from our govt...
Here's what one of my senator's office sent me. I'd be much more impressed if one of the points in the 9 point plan actually addressed gasoline demand, but I suppose thats too much to ask of an elected official in the US. ukeright:

****** Begin forwarded mail****
I thought you would be interested in the following message.

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Dear Friend:

Rising gas prices is an issue that impacts all Californians.
Whether you drive a car, own a business, or buy groceries and other goods, you feel the pinch of higher gas prices. For months, both in Washington and in California, I have been focusing on the critical problem of rising gas prices.

Over the past three months, gasoline prices have spiraled out of control. Nationwide, the average price per gallon of gas has risen from $1.54 on January 5th to $1.88 on April 12th.
Here in California, the price increase over this same period has been even sharper, from $1.61 to $2.15. In some areas of California, the price is much higher. In response to these rising prices, I have come up with a 9-point plan to fight rising gas prices. My plan includes:

1. FTC Investigation of Current Situation

First, I have called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the current gas price spikes in California, which began in mid-February. I have met with the Chairman of the FTC, who confirmed that there was an "anomaly" in California’s gasoline market and that the FTC was conducting an informal investigation.

2. Automatic Investigations of Rapid Price Increases

Second, I have introduced legislation that would require an automatic investigation of the gasoline market for possible manipulation any time that average gasoline prices in a state increase by 20% or more over a three-month period. If the FTC finds market manipulation in a given case, they would work with the state’s Attorney General to determine penalties to be imposed on the companies.

3. "Cease and Desist" Orders in Highly Concentrated Markets

I am cosponsoring the Gasoline Free Market Competition Act authored by Senator Wyden, which would give the FTC the authority to issue "cease and desist" orders in order to prevent market manipulation whenever four or fewer gasoline companies control more than 70 percent of the gas supply in a given market.

4. Strategic Petroleum Reserve

We need to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – which is now at 93% of capacity – in order to increase the supply of gasoline on the market. We should also establish a short-term "exchange" in which some oil in the SPR is released immediately and refilled later, just as SPR reserves were released four years ago to ease the home heating oil crisis in the Northeast. It doesn’t even make sound economic sense to buy gas for the reserve when prices are at a peak.

5. Increased Production by OPEC

I am cosponsoring a Senate resolution that calls on the President to work with OPEC to increase world crude oil supplies in order to achieve stable crude oil prices.
President Bush should work with OPEC to increase supply.

6. Subject OPEC to U.S. Anti-Trust Laws

I am cosponsoring a bipartisan bill authored by Senator DeWine that would subject OPEC to the laws prohibiting collusion, market manipulation, and other anti-competitive behavior.

7. Save the Bakersfield Refinery

I have called on Shell Oil to find a buyer for its Bakersfield refinery and commit to keeping the refinery open until a buyer is found. I have also asked the FTC and Attorney General Bill Lockyer to use their powers to stop the refinery from closing.
We cannot afford to lose any more California refinery capacity. If this refinery closes, it will only further stress an already tight California market.

8. Oxygenate Waiver

Along with Governor Schwarzenegger, Senator Feinstein, and California’s bipartisan Congressional delegation, I have called on the EPA to grant California a waiver from the requirement that an oxygenate – MTBE or ethanol – be added to gasoline.
Adding ethanol to gasoline may already be driving prices higher in some parts of the state.

9. Fuel Formula Investigation

We may be able to reduce price spikes by reducing the number of different fuel formulations now required by different jurisdictions. I have asked the General Accounting Office to investigate whether we can do this while maintaining the same air quality benefits that we get with California's cleaner-burning gasoline.

I believe that these steps, if implemented, would go a long way toward easing gasoline price spikes in California and preventing further price gouging in the future. If you have questions about any item on my 9-point plan or if you would like to send me any other idea, I encourage you to contact me at http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

===================================================

For more information on Senator Boxer's record and other information, please go to: http://boxer.senate.gov

If you would like to make a comment regarding this or any other federal matter, please feel free to do so at:
http://boxer.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm

***** end forwarded mail*************************

don't know what more i can say but....this senator's just a few bricks shy
of a full load. then again, at least I can stand tall and say that while she may be a senator representing my state, I personally have never voted for her, so it's not my freaking fault....

cas

 

Yes, but most of those 6.2 billion fatalities are the result of SUV accidents. :mrgreen:

 

I would strongly encourage all of you concerned about the longterm feasibility of our petroleum dependence to read the book "The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century" by James Howard Kunstler.

He's a bit of a pessimist, but his research is sound and he doesn't seem to care much for partisan anything.

Also, search around for the implications of a so-called "Hubbert's Curve". The essence is: if we haven't already passed peak global oil production, we will in the next decade, and afterwards we're going to learn very quickly just how much oil meant to us.