Gas Price Check...

[EricMM 0]

Plus when you compare the insuranc and the upfront costs, wind, solar, etc. are just as competitive as nukes.

 

They just don't get as much tax break money.

[Guest Tzar Lysergic]

And take up (I'm guessing, please prove me wrong if you have concrete facts) exponentially larger areas of the earth's surface to produce comparable amounts of energy.

 

 

[EricMM 0]

http://www.americanenergyindependence.com/solarenergy.html

 

Its in there.

 

Maybe not a solution for the entire U.S., barring some sort of (necessary) improvement in our electric transmission, but...

[Jaxxson Mayhem 0]

$4.19

 

 

 

Ugh. It went from $3.99 to $4.19 overnight.

[EricMM 0]

Coal is 50%, Natural Gas is 20%, Petroleum is 1.5%, Nuclear is 19.5%

Hey Marvin, how far does your car get on Methane?

 

Gas doesn't equal gas, and that 1.5% of our national energy portfolio isn't have much of an effect on the cost of crude or petrol...

[Guest Vitamin X]

And take up (I'm guessing, please prove me wrong if you have concrete facts) exponentially larger areas of the earth's surface to produce comparable amounts of energy.

I wouldn't say that really, considering that the best way to implement these sources of energy are defined by where they are. Coastal areas benefit from hydroelectric power, hot and dry areas benefit from solar power (even though the rainy and cloudy Pacific NW is one of the leaders in the country in solar power), and wind farms can be implemented hell, just about anywhere there's wind but Texas is the big place for that right now; all the guys who were making it big in oil are now looking at wind farms since they take up similar amounts of room and generate a ton of profit. Solar power is as easy as people installing them on their roofs- the only drawback is the price of installation, but it does pay itself off over time. At least over here, not sure about other places, if you install a solar panel on your roof the local electric company will do what's called "net metering" meaning whatever electricity you generate from solar power they'll take off your electric bill or even better, they'll pay you if you exceed the amount of energy you use to generate electricity for the grid. Think about the consequences of people doing that; you're not taking up more land, you're using land that's already there and building on top of it.

 

And then you've got hydroelectric dams which, although they do a small amount of damage to marine life (no worse than overfishing that's going on, though) are using otherwise unusable areas of the earth's surface to produce energy. As if nuclear/coal/gas plants don't take up considerable amounts of land in and of themselves as well, considering not just the power plants themselves but the uranium mines, oil fields, the refineries, etc. plus waste disposal as well which not only takes up more space, but is damaging to the environment and possibly the public health as well. That takes up considerably more land for producing energy than the four big renewable sources, which don't require mining/harvesting/refining/waste disposal, as that is essentially all done as part of the process at the plant.

[MrRant 0]

The point of nuclear power being used today (build it even in the desert and connect them to the grid to power the West Coast) is that it would help reduce the carbon emissions generated by coal as well as provide another relatively clean and long lasting option to generate power.

 

Is it the best solution? No. But I believe it's a step in the right direction to move off of coal fired plants. And if it means a cheaper source of energy that puts more money in people's pocket to hopefully afford solar panels (if that is where things lead). We can't unfortunately continue on this path and the development of solar/wind power as the main source of energy is quite the ways off.

 

Nuclear is a very good intermediate option.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I strongly agree, especially with the stress on the term intermediate option. It is by no means a long-term solution, and it's a hell of a lot better than coal and oil.

[MrRant 0]

And we have to consider that intermediate is >=25 years more than likely. I don't expect us to fully realize (this means power our current usage and have the capacity for growth in power needs) an alternative fuel source before I'm at least 50. Great if it would happen but I doubt it.

[EricMM 0]

We shot the moon with less and faster.

 

Where there's a will there's a way.

 

We didn't even know HOW to get to the moon when Kennedy declared we would.

 

We know EXACTLY how to make our energy work, we just need the will to implement it. I would definitely that it's more important than getting to the fucking moon was.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I wish I understood why everyone is like "we gotta get off coal" even though we're the Saudi Arabia of coal.

 

 

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I love that Eric keeps saying its Americans fault for living in areas where planners made it so that they CAN'T do anything but drive.

 

I wouldn't really say that is from planning, but from a lack thereof.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE

 

gas prices may only go up 10-15% due to the floods in the midwest..all because corn is going up and we use corn for ethanol..BRILLIANT plan!

 

 

[Guest Vitamin X]

I wish I understood why everyone is like "we gotta get off coal" even though we're the Saudi Arabia of coal.

Because smart guy, coal is:

a. not a renewable resource

b. extremely polluting to the environment, even in the case of "clean coal".

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I wish I understood why everyone is like "we gotta get off coal" even though we're the Saudi Arabia of coal.

Because smart guy, coal is:

a. not a renewable resource

b. extremely polluting to the environment, even in the case of "clean coal".

 

The whole point on coal is that we're sitting on all this coal and doing almost nothing with it because of (B), when it could be turned into oil and used as oil as opposed to continuing to import foreign oil. The best part is CTL plants generate less CO2 than oil refineries, and could generate almost none if the appropriate CO2 caputuring devices were used at the plant. Also, the wonderful thing about CTL plants is that they can be easily converted to turn any ordinary biomass into oil, meaning that in the long distant future when we have used up all of our coal, the plants can still be used to turn other things besides coal into oil.

[Guest Vitamin X]

And funny enough, here's a website from Obama's 2006 campaign for Senate wherein he is endorsing the move towards CTL plants than depending on foreign oil. That doesn't mean that the dude hasn't realized that bicycling is a great short-term transportation optin, and that we need WAY more rail in this country, plus using it more for freight than our current trucks on the interstate system.

 

Either ways, still not bad for cars, but we're talking about the other energy options here- which aren't going to go away.

[Failed Bridge 0]

Its around $4.03 a gallon here...when I feel like buying it. Its alot easier to just buy dry gas and octane boost then proceed to spike the gas tanks of the cars that come into the yard and drain them of their fuel. You just gotta be careful with which gas ya take because you can go through fuel filters real quick if you take garbage gas.

[Kristianna 0]

I paid 3.79/gal yesterday for regular unleaded. I suppose that's not intolerable, but damn.

[NoCalMike 0]

I paid 3.79/gal yesterday for regular unleaded. I suppose that's not intolerable, but damn.

 

$3.79? Geez.....that is soooo new years day 2008........try $4.48

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I paid $3.92 yesterday

 

next fillup in July will be $4 probably..darn

[Damaramu 0]

I paid 3.64 a gallon yesterday. I haven't had to pay more than 3.79 yet.

[At Home 0]

About $4.65 in Oakland.

[AntiLeaf33 0]

after it goes up another 5.5 cents tonight, St. John's should be around $1.48 /litre

[RepoMan 0]

I'm jealous of anyone paying under $4. After driving around the Rochester area today, the avg. is around $4.25.

[CubbyBr 0]

$4.08 in suburban Chicago.

[Red Baron 0]

After my drive across half of Canada and Calgary was the cheapest with 128.9-133.5 a litre.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

I'm jealous of anyone paying under $4. After driving around the Rochester area today, the avg. is around $4.25.

I dont think Im jealous of Mexicans despite their full service $2 gas right across the border.

[EricMM 0]

Something wrong with your apostrophe, Marvin?

[JJMc 0]

I paid 3.64 a gallon yesterday. I haven't had to pay more than 3.79 yet.

 

Yep, OK is the lowest in the country.

 

Two stations in my area have stopped pumping gas in the last two months because they couldn't make any money. To me, the actual dollar amount is not the problem, it's the fact that the price seems likely to keep going up exponentially forever, seemingly without rhyme or reason. I know the price of everything goes up eventually, but there are so many holes and contradictions in all the excuses that are put out in the media to try to justify it that I can't even keep them straight.

[Thoth 0]

4.59 in Orange County.