Iranians talk AU$3/L for petrol

[OzJavelin]

Read in the newspaper yesterday that some Iranian oil minister indicated the cost of petrol in Australia would rise to AU$3/L by next year (obviously he probably wasn't talking specifically about Australia, but that the price of crude oil would skyrocket .. maybe double or treble). Last time this guy opened his mouth petrol in Oz went to $1.40/L.

At AU$3/L, how would you cope?

From a transport perspective I live in a rural area about 20min drive from work .. ain't no bus/train to catch. I could probably cope by forcing my wife to travel with me to work - two cars are the moment - so it would be the same cost, just more inconvenient.

Problem isn't really our personal transport, it's the ongoing price increases of everything .. then I'd assume some stuff would just become unavailable.

Not a nice thought .. maybe the greenies will soon win by attrition?

[mr_efxr]

That is the main point, everything else is going up but our pay stays the same, in some cases even gets reduced.

[ltd]

Frightening.
The only good to come out of this though is that the higher prices go for petrol, the more pressure there is on developing alternative energy. Shale oil is an immediate option as well as oil from coal; which we used to do in WW2. Additionally, brazil is using pure ethanol in alot of their cars which has significantly reduced pollution, and is renewable. They're producing it there at on such a scale it works out cheaper than petrol, and their government has aided industry with grants for the necessary infrastructure.

Hopefully OPEC and the like who are driving prices will get their just deserts when the west develops alternative fuel that makes nobody want any of their crude.
I can't see how there will be much sympathy when we are going to be hit up by the UN for aid for the middle east as nobody wants their only export.
Most disgusting thing though, is that the saudi's are actually really poor; it's their royal family who have exploited all of the oil fields and claimed them as theirs. Saw one of them has an Audi S8 all made in sterling silver; not to mention the fleet of Maybach's etc.

[OzJavelin]

.. and it doesn't help hearing this morning that the White House isn't denying the possibility of using nukes against Iran for facilitate "regime change" ..

[The Monty]

I would be keeping my car in the garage and use it only on special occasions. It would cast me $204 to fill up. I would buy one of those mini scooter thingies to get to work on and visit people with, and would be catching a bus or train (if I could afford the ticket prices, as they would go up as well) to go on any holidays.

[ltd]

Well, I know for a fact Pratt and Whitney have made and are testing an engine that produces 110,000lbs of thrust and runs solely on Hydrogen.
That's further evidence that alternatives are being sought.

[ltd]

And i meant to add, Pratt and Whitney are engine and turbine manufacturers. Primarily, they supply jet engines to airlines

[falcon91]

Originally Posted by ltd

Well, I know for a fact Pratt and Whitney have made and are testing an engine that produces 110,000lbs of thrust and runs solely on Hydrogen.
That's further evidence that alternatives are being sought.

Will that fit into an EA with a few mods?? :nutsycuck

Originally Posted by falcon91

Will that fit into an EA with a few mods?? :nutsycuck

With enough cable ties, anythings possible in an E-series.

[johnnyb]

Originally Posted by The Monty

I would be keeping my car in the garage and use it only on special occasions. It would cast me $204 to fill up. I would buy one of those mini scooter thingies to get to work on and visit people with, and would be catching a bus or train (if I could afford the ticket prices, as they would go up as well) to go on any holidays.

YOU should be so lucky mate

MY fuel cell would cost between 240-260 to fill up

For that price the car would be locked up in the garage for good and kept as a collectors item

a vesper sounds good $15 to fill up

[ClevlndStemer]

weren't we supposed to be paying about $2 a litre now?

[pauljh74]

I think a move to have combustion engine cars running on high levels of ethanol would be a good move for the next decade or so, new cars would have to be re-configured to accept it so we don't have to rely on oil as much. It's not possible for many current cars to run on it without mods. This would get us by until things like hydrogen cars become mainstream possibilities

[loxxr6]

Saw one of them has an Audi S8 all made in sterling silver; not to mention the fleet of Maybach's etc.

http://www.snopes.com/photos/automobiles/silveraudi.asp

[max^power]

not suprised. they should just put it up to $5/l on the weekend and holidays just to get us used to it. can't wait for that day, see if they blame the GST then.

[Poetic Justice]

Ipod and public transport methinks.... Car for weekends.

[4.9 EF Futura]

Shale oil is not an immediate option as some may think

http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/...ale_retor.html

To quote one of the people working on such a project:

If you heat this shale to 700 degrees F you will turn this organic carbon (kerogen) into the nastiest, stinkiest, gooiest, pile of oil-like crap that you can imagine. Then if you send it through the gnarliest oil refinery on the planet you can make this s*** into transportation fuel. In the mean time you have created all kinds of nasty byproducts, have polluted the air and groundwater of wherever you have extracted it.

The shale, when heated, expands significantly in size and therefore it cant all go back to where it was dug out from. Oh, the waste rock is also carcinogenic and you need about 2 metric tonnes to generate one barrel of oil. 3 barrels of water are required in the production of 1 barrel of oil. I think it'd be more economical to continue lining the pockets of the saudi royals - $3/L prob cheaper than any alternative fuel.

Coal is an effective source of oil through gasificiation - but coal is a finite resource just like oil. A dramatic shift to the liquification of coal would see coal peak in about 2 decades (http://www.fromthewilderness.com/fre...coal_peak.html) which would put us in a similar position to oil... in order to switch to coal for our oil needs (a ridiculous suggestion i know) would require coal to be mined at 500% of the current production rate (http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/SecondPage.html) - an excercise which is expected to generate such massive global warming that the planet dies off.

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by ClevlndStemer

weren't we supposed to be paying about $2 a litre now?

Currently AU$1.35 .. and only a couple of car bombs away from AU$2 easy meezthinks ..

[big fella]

Originally Posted by ltd

Well, I know for a fact Pratt and Whitney have made and are testing an engine that produces 110,000lbs of thrust and runs solely on Hydrogen.
That's further evidence that alternatives are being sought.

Until they can find an energy efficient method of extracting hydrogen from water, the benefit is little. At the moment, from what I understand, the easiest way to produce usable Hydrogen is from hydrocarbons.

I remember hearing on the abc radio that an Australian university had discovered an efficient way of using solar energy to extract Hydrogen from water. I've heard nothing since and can't find anything on the web.

[ClevlndStemer]

Originally Posted by OzJavelin

Currently AU$1.35 .. and only a couple of car bombs away from AU$2 easy meezthinks ..

yes but the analysts last year were talking up a definite price of $2, in other words no one really knows what we are going to be paying when, all we know is it keeps rising for no real reason.

[parawolf]

man, i'm going to open a bike store somewhere.... and I mean push bikes!

[4.9 EF Futura]

Originally Posted by ClevlndStemer

all we know is it keeps rising for no real reason.

Plenty of good reasons. Supply and demand being two of them.

[ltd]

Pratt & Whitney developed said engine from a JT9D engine that had a different core placed in it. This engine is commonly used on the 747 and 767. The engine produced a whopping 80% more thrust due to the higher temperature hydrogen burns at, as well as the greater thermal expansion from higher temperatures.

As for Shale Oil, 4.9 EF I agree with you, however in the same report Shell claim they are able to extract it in situ for 30 dollars a barrel, with minimal environmental damage and energy needs. We'll have to wait and see.
Australia does have large reserves of natural gas, and we also have plenty of coal. There is also talk of going nuclear as technologies have improved vastly as to what to do with spent fuel. Who knows, maybe we could get our cars to run on nuclear power - imagine the mods you could do. Would really put meaning to the term "bomb" wouldn't it?

[falcon91]

Costs keep going up and up on the three things I really enjoy doing:

Smoking
Drinking Beer &
Driving

Nothing ever goes down (Not even the missus) :

[4.9 EF Futura]

Originally Posted by ltd

As for Shale Oil, 4.9 EF I agree with you, however in the same report Shell claim they are able to extract it in situ for 30 dollars a barrel, with minimal environmental damage and energy needs. We'll have to wait and see.
Australia does have large reserves of natural gas, and we also have plenty of coal. There is also talk of going nuclear as technologies have improved vastly as to what to do with spent fuel. Who knows, maybe we could get our cars to run on nuclear power - imagine the mods you could do. Would really put meaning to the term "bomb" wouldn't it?

Lol. Yes, nuclear really does look like it will play a crucial role - considering what other alternatives can be developed with an abundance of (relatively) cheap electricity.

Also consider the improvements still yet to be made in mining the shale (and oil sands up in Canada). I think a barrell of oil from conventional sources costs around $2 to pull so if currently $20 then i think we'd need to see massive increases in efficiency before it was viable.

If only we'd started thinking about this 30 years ago

[Twinpiston]

Being a very new parent I have noticed things going up in prices and as somebody else said, still no pay rise!!!!

But $3 a litre, thats c#ap

[ToxikXR]

I'd be paying about $240 a tank. I filled up half a tank yesty on $1.25 and it cost $60!

Its interesting to see the easter long weekend coming up and fuel expected to be around $1.40 for it.

got to love that profiteering.

[micksta]

Originally Posted by parawolf

man, i'm going to open a bike store somewhere.... and I mean push bikes!

fuk it .. sounds like a good idea..

although i woudln't even make it into the main street nowadays lol.

but a new pushy does sound alright.

easy to fix too lol.

[Bax]

Originally Posted by parawolf

man, i'm going to open a bike store somewhere.... and I mean push bikes!

I spent my money last week. Fitness and easy on the wallet all in one hit.

[Polyal]

Originally Posted by falcon91

Nothing ever goes down (Not even the missus) :

Thats the most horrific thing I have read in a while...

Yeah $3/l Id be screwed, thats why i brought a pushy aswell, but stuff riding in the rain!

[flappist]

Do you guys REALLY think that the USA & China will let the middle east hold the rest of the world to ransom?
The last two world wars were started over oil.....