It is interesting that many soccer moms or dads are driving a full size SUV or mini van when there are only 1 or 2 kids in a 7 passengers vehicle. Or as one of my friends said, he needed a larger vehicle so he could drive the whole soccer team in it. I suggested may be he should buy a bus instead so the parents could join the ride. He did not find that funny. Or in where I am living, many guys are driving 1 ton truck and the box is brand spanking new (not a scratch on the paint). Most 6 cylinder engines are not tuned for fuel economy. May be it is time to switch back to a 4 cyl. Or just skip the chocolate bar and save the gas. Speaking of "balmy" Canada - I run my house's thermostat at 15 C. If I need to get warmer, I put on a sweater. I tried not to heat up the whole house. Oh beware of the bio fuel myth. If the bio fuel becomes popular in N America, we may have to find another food source as corn and wheat are used to generate bio fuel in N America. If you think food are expensive, just wait for bio fuel to get more popular. There was a news story about Virgin Airline planning to use bio fuel in their entire fleet. A comment was made by a person that half of land mass in UK will have to switch to grow crop to sustain the rate of fuel consumption of the Virgin Airline. Electric car is not a guarantee to solve the greenhouses gases problem as fuel has to be burnt to generate electricity. Wind turbine is about 60-70% efficiency when it is running. Solar panels may be blocked by clouds. US has passed an Act regarding fuel importing. US only wants fuel that will take less energy to extract. Oil sands in Canada will not qualify. Therefore, I guess US has to buy more oil from OPEC, Nigeria or Venezuela.
That is what I mean: you must be a master of your own environment, not a helpless victim. If you do nothing then you are not prepared to deal with future shock, starting with US$200/bbl crude price.
yes, i am prepared, I own oil shares I welcome $200/bbl oil Oil up $5.00 today...YAYYYY...or I should say, Jia Yeow, really.... Light Crude (NYM) April 08 ($US per bbl.) 104.52 +5.00 3/5 2:25pm
yes, at that range, i see people will really try to cut back. This equates to ~150$ oil, still a bit of way to go yet
Let us look at so-called oil price increases. Look at it as a valuable commodity or precious metal like gold, oil prices are no different. It is the US dollar that is going down, and that is why oil prices look so high in US dollars. Americans will now pay more than Europeans or Australians or the Chinese.
The flip side of this is that Europeans can withstand future shock-further oil price increases-better than Americans. The future oil shock to the US will be even worse than their current subprime nightmare.
i disagree. i say subprime and US financial mess and recession would not change US demand for oil much, ie. $100 oil is not a shock. We all heard when oil busted through $50, 'it will kill the US economy'. Well it didnt, neither at 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 dollar oil. It was the reckless borrowing and iraq + afghanistan wars that sapped the juice out of the american. Only when u dont drive and don't buy grocery, then u will use less oil. I dare you to take away Panda's truck and foods without incurring some personal pain.
Speaking of gasoline...Aptera Typ-1 e: Exclusive Test Drive (not sure if anyone has seen this or not)... And I wonder how much will this vehicle cost! Video: The minds behind the 300-mpg Aptera vehicles give us a first look at an all-electric, Jetsons-style three-wheeler with 120-mile range that's coming next year. Buckle up for a drive, then get under the hood at the shop! http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1351302783/bctid1351300070
US is now in slowdown if not in a recession. Oh look, record oil and gas prices. By JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writer Wed Apr 9, 3:36 PM ET NEW YORK - The upward trend in energy prices showed no sign of abating Wednesday as gasoline set yet another record at the pump and crude oil topped $112 a barrel for the first time in the futures market.
^^$4.00+/gallon??..^^ ..you kidding me??..we're going on to $5.00/gallon, soon!!...*i can feel the pinch in my walleeeet*..
^^See, i told ju..^^ ..U.S. is heading towards $5/gallon...while Canada is heading towards $6/gallon....Bring back the rickshaws!!..
Oh... someone told me about some alternate energy source. He was in indonesia and said there's a research going on with using volcano heat as the source of energy. They try to lay a pipe through it to try to harness the energy. Quite cool for an alternate energy. Not sure how feasible it is. Interesting indeed. Hope some scientist can find some alternate solution to this oil thingy.
