Fuel Prices

[Ian C]

Might be a tad controversial here and get some peoples backs up but...

 

If people didn't expect too much, they would pay so much tax

 

They expect the roads to be salted, even the little culdesacs

 

They expect the pavements to be salted or they sue

 

They sue if a paving flag sits up more than a few millimeters

 

My local NHS paid out £5m in compensation in the last year to something like 90 cases with another 100 and odd case still outstanding

 

People moan and whinge to local councils like there's no tomorrow. I bet a huge chunk of the councils budget goes on satisfying the whingers.

 

Another huge chunk of their budget will go on backside covering to prevent claims.

 

A huge chunk of the governments budget goes on spongers who would rather claim benefit because they are "better off on benefit" and would have to take a drop in income to be employed. How arrogant and selfish is that !!

 

I reckon 50% of the uk population either want a kick up the backside or taking to the vets and putting down, that way it would relieve the burden on the rest of us

 

Well put Dean, 100% agree.

 

My van got screwed on sat night, nicked the cd player and hands free kit, ripped the lot out so the stuff is useless to them ............mindless scum but thats the country all over.

[henchard]

We're all being mugged as oil won't be running out any time soon! some geologists and oil experts say it might never ever run out! I read that the oil wells in Saudi are filling back-up not instead of depleting.....

 

I suggest you watch this

 

to see why oil is actually way too cheap

[Lee Winger]

I suggest you watch this

 

to see why oil is actually way too cheap

 

Good link thanks, though the peak oil discovery dates are wrong

 

I have a friend who manufactures specialist parts for the oil drilling industry, his company is the world leader in the production of certain specialist parts, he told me that running out of oil/peak oil will not be happening any time soon, or indeed in our great great grand children's lifetime....

 

I'll take his word over anyone's on this subject!

Edited January 4, 2011 by Lee Winger

[gensetsteve]

How old is it Steve ?

 

I got to Gravesend and back from huddersfield on a tankfull in my landcruiser, towing a bike trailer empty down there and with a small motorbike back up, so there was a little bit of drag.

 

I brimmed the tank as much as it would take and it was on fumes when I got back

 

 

Its a 1999 4.2 auto had it years cant see it being sold soon. Done about 70k miles I only do about 6k a year in it. The only vehicle I own not covered in wood chip and inch of mud in foot wells. Does about 24-26 on a run solo. In six years its cost me £500 in repairs.

[Dean Lofthouse]

Its a 1999 4.2 auto had it years cant see it being sold soon. Done about 70k miles I only do about 6k a year in it. The only vehicle I own not covered in wood chip and inch of mud in foot wells. Does about 24-26 on a run solo. In six years its cost me £500 in repairs.

 

The one I did the trip with was a 1998 auto, I was astounded how it performed and it had done close on a 1/2 a million miles when I chucked it in for a new one.

 

The most expensive part it had on was an alternator in that time, awesome vehicles

 

I've just got rid of my latest which had only done 45K, once the recession is over and I get my mortgage down a bit I may plump for a brand spanker

[John Russell]

Lee Winger writes:

"I have a friend who manufactures specialist parts for the oil drilling industry, his company is the world leader in the production of certain specialist parts, he told me that running out of oil/peak oil will not be happening any time soon, or indeed in our great great grand children's lifetime...."

 

There is a great misunderstanding of what the phrase 'Peak Oil' actually means. Your friend is perfectly right, Lee, though one needs to interpret what he says differently. If I may be permitted, I'll shed some light on it.

 

The world is not running out of oil; there is still loads in the ground -- probably half of what exists is still down there. However, the world is running out of cheap oil; and that's what 'peak oil' concerns are all about.

 

When oil was first discovered men would drill a hole in the ground and up it would come as 'a gusher'. Gradually the 'easy' wells got used up and the oilmen drilled deeper in search of the 'sweet, light crude'. As the oil kept coming, offering a steady supply supply of easily transported fuel, the world gradually re-oriented itself into being totally dependent on this incredibly versatile, concentrated energy source. Demand rocketed. Supply increased to meet demand.

 

Today, much of the world's 'easy' oil has gone. Today there is a lot less of the 'sweet light crude'. Today much of the oil being produced is thicker and tar-like which is pumped out under pressure or by injecting steam down into the ground. At the same time oil wells, once all on land, are now being dug further and further out to sea in deeper and deeper water. So the oil's still there, it's just harder -- and more expensive -- to get at.

 

As an example of how far we're prepared to go, the latest source of oil being developed is the 'Alberta Tar Sands' in Canada. Forget pumping -- here the oil is found as tar, in sand and shale, and has actually to be dug out by excavator, dumped in lorries and transported to huge processing plants where it is melted and the usable oil extracted. As you can imagine this is all very expensive. Indeed 20 years ago it was too expensive to extract and was untouched. However -- and this is the crucial bit -- as oil prices rise worldwide, this expensive oil becomes economic.

 

So 'Peak Oil' is the point where the cost of extracting the remaining oil raises the price of the end product to the point where people have to stop using it and start looking for alternative sources of energy. So next time you are weighing up the costs whether to power your saw bench by a diesel engine or use electricity, ask yourself; is this a sign of peak oil? But don't worry; as Lee's friend says, oil will still be available in our great-great grand children's lifetime for those uses for which there is no practical alternative -- chainsaws for instance. Just don't expect petrol to be the price it is today.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Best wishes,

 

John Russell

[Stephen Blair]

Excellent post John, i watched a programm about the Tar Sands in Alberta. What you say makes perfect sense. i just do less with machinery these days and dont have any cool toys lol

[Mark Bolam]

Really well put John, great post.

 

The problem with fuel prices and everyone it affects is that it is not on a level playing field.

 

In rural Northumberland there is virtually no public transport system so you have to drive everywhere. Most people have to drive further to work than average in the first place. They have to buy plenty of expensive fuel.

 

Down here in Kent loads of mothers drop their kids off at school because they think 1/4 mile is too far to walk. It looks like a 4x4 supermarket outside the school from 8.15-9.15 and again at 2.30 till 3.15! Diesel at £10.00/litre wouldn't affect them much as they hardly use any!

 

It's only ever going to go up, though, and I'm looking to cut out unnecessary journeys as much as possible. I will have to walk to the pub.

 

The fuel price is the same for your competitors as it is for you, which is about the only positive I can see at the moment.

[Dean Lofthouse]

The problem with fuel prices and everyone it affects is that it is not on a level playing field.

 

.

 

I'm the opposite Mark, I think it is a level playing field, you pay for what you use.

 

I also think road tax should be abolished and put onto fuel, that way those that do the road miles pay for them.

 

Why should I pay £400 tax on a 4x4 when I do sub 3K miles a year when a rep in a small car does a gazillion miles a year in a zero tax car burning up 10 times more fuel than me.

 

Those who live in rural areas choose to do so. If they dont they get a bonus by not having to sit in traffic queues or put up with idiots. They also have the choice of buying a fuel efficient car.

 

I want a big 4x4 because I need one, I will pay for the milage I do in fuel no problem, but I dont agree with paying tax on one even if it does 1 mile per year, that is not fair.

 

Those that use fuel should pay for it, that way they will use it more efficeintly.

 

When I price jobs I get a load together and plan a route round them all which is the most efficient in time and fuel, if a job is out of "my area" I try and pass it on to another tree surgeon more local

[Stephen Blair]

i plan on taking my patrol off the rd in March and SORN it till winter. It is just not cost effective to run it in summer as a car.