$20 a gallon gas proposed.....

$20/gal?

$4 a gallon tipped us from the edge of economic peril, but making it, into a full blown recession. Once the cascade of unpaid credit obligations (both personal and comercial) began, there was no stopping it even when gas prices dropped. I am not saying gas prices last year were the sufficient cause of the recession. Any type of expense that threw people's (and business') tenuous budgets out the window would have done it. However, the expense that came along and actually triggered the problem was the high fuel cost.

Having no more "evidence" than optimistic dreams unsupported by economic evidence that the recession is easing, do we really want to start increasing costs at every level of commercial and personal enterprise again (especially as global temps have fallen for the last several years)? Don't even get me started with the damage that imposing aditional healthcare costs will do. Just saying that healthcare reform is necessary to economic stability does not make it so...but people seem to buy it without any explanation as to how increasing costs to businesses, forcing higher prices to consumers and forcing more expense (job) cuts will help anything....but I digress.
 
Last edited:
Hough is right on the money! As much as I would love to see the oil companies take it in the rear I would rather not see are fragile economic state get worse buy the price of gas going sky high.

.sno.
 
By the time gas could hit $20 a gallon we wouldn't be using it for fuel anymore. There's almost no reason except the oil companies to be using it now. Every car sold in Brazil since 1986 can run on pure alcohol. The Model T was originally designed to run on alcohol. They switched to gas cause it was alot cheaper, back then. Ford 3 liter V-6's can run on alcohol or gas right now (look for the little green leaf on the emblem). Big Oil is pushing corn for ethanol but it's to keep the price high. Corn alcohol return is about 5%. Sugar beets are closer to 20%. Alcohol is a much more eco friendly fuel and it's use creates alot of very good jobs. Canada is trying to get Canola motor oil approved right now. It works great as motor oil and again totally bio-degradable. Not to even go into the fuel cell cars. We will never see $20 a gallon gas cause there will be no demand for it.
 
Last edited:
hey guys i simply can't comprehend why americans are complaining about fuel prices here in denmark the fuel price for ron95 uleaded is 7,04doller pr gallon and that is cheap comparred with 7,8 dollers pr gallon we paid one year ago, but we have learnt to live with it. so instead of complaining why dont people buy small import cars instead cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, same or better quality that us made cars. Or better buy some more 2wheelers
 
skou said:
hey guys i simply can't comprehend why americans are complaining about fuel prices here in denmark the fuel price for ron95 uleaded is 7,04doller pr gallon and that is cheap comparred with 7,8 dollers pr gallon we paid one year ago, but we have learnt to live with it. so instead of complaining why dont people buy small import cars instead cheaper to buy, cheaper to run, same or better quality that us made cars. Or better buy some more 2wheelers
Click to expand...

Different cultures, Skou. This country was developed and laid out on cheap gasoline, cars for Everyman, and a celebration of the "lonesome pioneers, ever pushing for wide open spaces" who, when you really look at it, were kinda anti-social.

We have no mass transit, and commute long enough to require a motor is a fact of life for the majority of the population. A great many of us work for crap wages, too, and an increase in the price of "The Precious Juice" from $2 to $3 or more puts a financial hardship on most.

We do the best we can, but hey, we're Americans, and what we do best is complain, right? :D
 
I drive a 28 mile round trip for work every day. That is not unusual at all. What kind of driving commute do they have in Denmark?

BTW- the real question is not why we complain, it's why you don't. If one first world country can have gas at $2.50/gal. Why not yours? I know the answer, but its more of rhetorical question.
 
Last edited:
Junster said:
By the time gas could hit $20 a gallon we wouldn't be using it for fuel anymore. There's almost no reason except the oil companies to be using it now. Every car sold in Brazil since 1986 can run on pure alcohol. The Model T was originally designed to run on alcohol. They switched to gas cause it was alot cheaper, back then. Ford 3 liter V-6's can run on alcohol or gas right now (look for the little green leaf on the emblem). Big Oil is pushing corn for ethanol but it's to keep the price high. Corn alcohol return is about 5%. Sugar beets are closer to 20%. Alcohol is a much more eco friendly fuel and it's use creates alot of very good jobs. Canada is trying to get Canola motor oil approved right now. It works great as motor oil and again totally bio-degradable. Not to even go into the fuel cell cars. We will never see $20 a gallon gas cause there will be no demand for it.
Click to expand...

Brings up a question in my mind.
Do you suppose these things will run on Ethanol? Changes in jetting, changes in the fuel system (I've always been told alcohol is corrosive and will eat holes in carburetors)

I was puzzled as to how Brazil can run on Ethanol and do it right, but when the US tried it, all it did was trigger a feeding frenzy of futures speculation on corn and sent the price of food upwards. Made me think "Yeah, divert food crops from people's mouths to the filler necks of Escalades. Smart..."
Seems there's not as big a push now for alternative fuels, at least it's not in the press like it was last year. They brought in a huge truckload of baled switchgrass for research at the school I work at, and it's just sitting there, rotting. Wonder how much me and the rest of the taxpayers paid for that? It's probably Mil-Spec switchgrass, so I'll bet it was plenty. ;)
 
Last edited:
I'm all for ethanol production. We here in Oz are thinking about making more of it here for fuel in the northern part of country near the equator..success of Brazils ability to produce ethanol I think is mainly because they source it from cane sugar which grows better in tropical and sub-tropical areas. Also more ethanol is produced from sugar than anything else.. however we'll have to have stainless steel carburettors to use it though..;)
 
Last edited:
Ethanol itself is not corrosive to metal. What it is is hygroscopic, meaning it will absorb and hold water in solution- rust on steel parts will result. Also, some rubbers and plastics will swell and get gummy or harden with alcohol use.

That being said, many Ford cars and trucks and almost all GM vehicles can run on up to 85% ethanol now- no problem. They could use 100% alcohol with additional programming. The right plastics, rubbers and alloys solve these issues.

Little Briggs engines have been converted for alcohol use for years with serious power improvements...serious consumption increases too, but you can't have everything.
 
Last edited:
If you increase the compression ratio or supercharge the engine you will get better economy for the same performance if not better so Ive heard as ethanol has an octane rating of about 102 :D
 
i just wonder why a nation where the consumers are complaining about fuel prices still drives their disposabel suv's, instead the should learn from the rest of the world buy small cars (small cars today are much better than the yugo and also better quality than us made cars) and drive them for 20 years like all other places in the world
 
Markeatmark is probably closest to the real reason this could happen. Think pre-WWII Germany. Runaway inflation could make everything outrageously expensive.

Ethanol is a renewable resource but it also taking up agricultural capacity while the world population continues to expand unchecked. What we really need is NPG (negative population growth) for a few generations!
 
i would love the us car taxes in dk we have to pay first 180% of the value of the car in registration tax and the pay 25% in wat. this is also the case for motorcycles so it generally sucks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top