A Note On Gas Prices

With pump prices rising fast, a gas station under the Brooklyn Bridge took a quantum leap into outrageousness - charging a jaw-dropping $4.50 a gallon!

via the Daily News

And another perspective, with prices:

Gasoline prices in the United States, which have recently hit record highs, are actually much lower than in many countries. A few countries, like Venezuela have prices that are far lower.

Also heard about this site today - check it out. Enter a zip code to check prices at stations near you. There was a 20 cent spread in my area.

Comments

[James Cottlefinger]

I'm paying all of these taxes to Uncle Sam to defend the oil supply and they can't keep it down? Somebody's getting gouged.

No more Republocrats or Demicans for me. I'm voting Libertarian from now on. In a true laissez-faire economy, unlike the one we have that the Bushies and Kennedys and Clintons trick us into thinking is free market, gas prices would be much, much, much lower.

[SinCerely]

The rise in gas prices has nothing to do with Republicans/Dems. The new additive of Ethanol is proving very costly. Not only are we unprepared for the extra expense, the damage to the lower ozone and our engines has yet to be determined. Car manufactures as well as gasoline providers only have positive things to say about Ethanol. My mechanic tells me other wise. According to him, the new fuel additive will play hell with my turbo engine.

[James Cottlefinger]

SinCerely,

Ethanol has been added to less than 50% of the gasoline supply. The ethanol duty is far, far, far from being solely responsible for the hike or even the primary factor. Who is pitching you that myth? That's a spin created by the oil companies to justify the way they are gouging us, and if you've worked in the industry like I have you recognize their dirty prints all over this myth. The reality is that the Republocrats and Dummycans are shills for the oil industry, who are gouging us. This isn't rule by the people for the people. This isn't laissez-faire economics. It is a mix of socialistic and fascist tyranny by those who control the resources and thereby have a heavy-handed influence on politics.

Some people claim, "well, the Europeans pay twice as much for gas as we do." No shit! The Europeans are living under an onerous tax system, and in a world that is trending leftward because of the obviousness of the corruption and stupidity of Bush much of Europe is trending RIGHTward in part because the understand the link between taxes, socialism, high oil prices, and inflation. Do we want to compare the over-taxed, doomed-in-the-future Euros to us?

[SinCerely]

Check your local gas station. The Ethenol additive is mandatory starting in May. And yes, it does play a major role. The industry is not prepared for supply and demand.

[truthbetold]

geeeez! 4.50? that is utterly ridiculous and has to somehow be illegal - I am already crying in California where gas is up to almost 3 a gallon again - ready to trade my suv for a mini cooper

[mylena]

Oilprices are indeed much higher in Europe ... I can't speak for other countries, but for instance in the Netherlands, the car is not a necessity as is here in the States. In the Netherlands lots of people (incl me, though here in the States it really isnt handy) do not even have a drivers license. They use bikes, trams, trains etc. which are often much better and easier and cheaper than the car. In the States you are so much dependable on your cars, it's almost scary.

[Susa]

Gas is very outragous! Right now the city I live in, Reno, NV, has some of the highest gas prices in the nation. In Lake Tahoe gas is already about $3.20 in some places.

[Susa]

Gas is very outragous! Right now the city I live in, Reno, NV, has some of the highest gas prices in the nation. In Lake Tahoe gas is already about $3.20 in some places.

[Northerner]

And they didn't even include the prices in The Netherlands in that table. As of last week, we pay 1.8 euros per liter, that is (wait for it): US$ 6.91 per gallon! No wonder I take the bicycle to work.

Happy driving everyone!

[Northerner]

Sorry, typo. It's 1.48 euros per liter, but the $6.91 per gallon is correct.

[mylena]

Hi Northerner,

IWe have an appartment in Amsterdam, to visit my grandmother for instance 20 miles away we will take the train, much faster and less hassle (looking for a parking spot). The traintransportation is great in the Netherlands, even through small villages. In Amsterdam I walk or bike everything and when it is nasty weather i go with the tram. Nothing is further than 10 minutes away anyway. I can do my groceries within 2 minutes walk ... Shops are integrating in the villages. As here in the States you really need to get in your car to do groceries or shop.

Also they have greenwheels in the Netherlands, which means you can sign up and reserve a car for a period of time, where we live in Amsterdam it is one block away, it works with a pincard, when you don't need it anymore you put it back and you get charged monthly.

I never even thought of getting a driversicense, I never really needed one.

[IMHERE]

The US has been asleep on this since the 70's which started the spiral of gas prices.

I think it behoove the US to promote the ethanol manufacturer and for the US automakers to make cars that will run effeciently on ethanol.

Just think all that money will stay here in the US and anyone with any tillable land will be sitting on the equivilent of an oil field.

Oh there look, thats why nothing has been done, the wealth will stay here, and the here will have the wealth.

[bexter]

The CNN article said: All prices updated May, 2004.

hmmm... gotta find a new, updated list somewhere.....
it would be interesting to see the 2006 prices.

[tester]

ethanol...what a waste.

Bio-diesel and veggie oil is the future.

[Bill]

1) Ethanol is simply booze. In many motors it may damage seals. Ethanol vaporizes much more readily than longer chain hydrocarbons and can result in vapor lock problems in hot areas.

2) Crude oil is more likely abiotic in origin than it is biotic and thus "running out" is highly unlikely. Crude oil type hydrocarbons are found throughout the universe, i.e. being burned in stars, on asteroids, on moons of planets (recent find of lake of methane on a moon of Jupiter), and on other planets. If long chain hydrocarbons are the result of biotic processes then life as we know it must be ubiquitous in the universe since hydrocarbons apparently are.

3) In 1965, Chrysler attempted to sell us on their turbine engined auto that could burn ANY carbon-based fuel, perfume, alcohol, kerosine, etc but we weren't ready. Link: http://www.aardvark.co.nz/pjet/chrysler.shtml

4) The current $70+ cost per barrel IS NOT for the crude being cracked today. We won't see that crude for many weeks or even months to come so the rise in price is merely gouging ahead of the cost curve.

5) Here is a link to an article on ethanol costs:

http://www.ethanolrfa.org/objects/documents/126/usdacostofproductionsurvey.pdf

Remember that ethanol must be distilled and most current methods use hydrocarbon- or carbon-based energy sources to perform the distillation. The same is true for Hybrid cars. The amount of energy required to move a fixed mass a fixed distance does not change with the energy form. When one uses a plug-in car, one is merely shifting the energy source from gasoline to electricity and electricity must be produced somewhere at some cost. Most of the hype behind these cars is BS, like the electric cars in CA that are required to use electricity produced in other states so CA can claim they reduce pollution in CA.

A couple of sites I visited showed ethanol costs of around $2.50 - $2.60 per gallon so if the additive is mixed at 10% ratio that indicates a 25- 26 cent addition price of the gasoline BUT this cost must be reduced by the value of the 10% gasoline not used. Do additives help? Probably in older motors that don't have exhaust sensors and computers to control the fuel to air ratios. Try working out the chemical equilibria equations for octane and for ethanol to see. In both cases the products of combustion are carbon dioxide and water (water vapor in atmosphere being THE major greenhouse gas).

6) One cannot compare the price of gas in the US with other countries without including a basic comparison such as minimum wage or average worker salary. Check out the minimums in most European countries compared to that in the US.

7) Remember ALL of europe fits in less than half of the land area of the continental US. Travel distances therefore are much shorter and thus fuel consumption is also lower.

8) In the 1970s, ethanol was pushed as an alternative. I stated then that gas prices would always be just below the point where ethanol would become a viable alternative and won a couple of bets with other profs at my University. The production costs are dropped and prices are becoming quite competitive. With a switch to solar stills, the cost would drop dramatically by eliminating the costs of natural gas or electricity for distillation.

9) Is the government on the side of the People? Only if it helps those in power keep or expand their power!

10) If we switch to 100% ethanol and so long as the ethanol is undenatured, we can always pull over on the side of the road and fix ourselves a good stiff drink!

[windmillie]

For all you people worried about gas prices and your wallet, I have the solution for both high gas prices and congested roads: get your bicycle out, give it a tune up and download the bus routes. It has been working for me for 37 years.

[windmillie]

Mylena, dat bedoel ik dus: ook in de USA kun je zonder auto. Ik woon in Albuquerque, een echte autostad, en heb geen enkel probleem. Je moest eens zien hoeveel vrouwen me bij de supermarkt vertellen dat ze het fantastisch vinden dat ik mijn boodschappen op de fiets doe. Dan stappen ze in de minivan...