I failed second year algebra, so maybe you can help me do the math on these recent events: Billionaire oil tycoon, T. Boone Pickens invests a billion dollars in a wind farm. Paul Krugman of the NY Times finally gets a copy of The End of Suburbia and then titles his editorial, Stranded in Suburbia. Oil sets record highs on a near daily basis, the IEA say a supply crunch is coming and experts predict $12/gallon. A 1993 Geo Metro goes for $7200. Peak Oil doubters think that Brazil’s recent find will save the world when in reality the technology to extract that oil hasn’t been invented yet, or that oil will drop back down to more sane prices after the speculators lose their money. What does your math add up to? Mine says we’ll soon all be riding around on these things, which actually makes the future seem quite tolerable.
Sources: CNN, NYTimes, TTAC, Autobloggreen, Peakoil.com, Vancouverpeakoil.com, motorcities.com
Image: Seppo A. Korpela
im keeping my fingers crossed for a back to the future II mr.fusion…
Stop worrying about US oil prices, you guys have got it easy… Just take a look at what we Europeans have to pay!!!!
That’s kind of what Krugman touched on in his Op-Ed, that Europe is handling high gas prices better and that American suburbs are doomed. Europeans will be paying more, as will the rest of the world.
Yeah in europe the prices of oil are higher than in the US. In Holland we pay almost three times as much for petrol. The government is also planning to introduce more and more taxes to ’save the environment’. Already about 60-70% of the price we pay for petrol in Holland is going to the government. Maybe I should consider moving to a country like Venezuela where petrol is cheaper then water
http://russianfun.net/picture-of-the-day/picture-of-the-day-05202008/
Erio we have almost the same price in Germany and it’s all about the taxes…
The Industry and the private people should better prepare for a life without gas… unfortunately!
The UAE says they’ve got another 7-8 years left of oil, and are investing everything they’ve got into starting a tourist industry to drive their economy. Many other middle eastern countries havent got much longer than the UAE.
Hence the reason why the Mayan calendar only goes to the year 2012. They new the world would oil ourseves into extinction.
How much is petrol /gallon in the US at the moment?
I worked out, yesterday I payed approx. 8 US dollars and 32 cents per US gallon for my fuel. (That was based on 115 pence per litre in UK)
I think in cities with more than 150,000 citizens public transportation should be improved a lot and people should be forced using it by fees to drive in the city with your car.
Trucks should get loaded on the railroad instead of driving across the States or Europe. And we have to figure out a way to to avoid traffic jams. So much gas is wasted by being stuck in traffic jams.
Matt,
We are at $4.00 per gallon. The difference from Euro to US is that I can drive across England in 3 hours, but in 3 hours here I can make it 1/2 way across my state. I bet you don’t fill up twice per week like we do here?
True say about the traffic jams. As for the highway… we have an unused HOV lane on one side and a 10′ wide open shoulder on the right. Both are tempting me daily.
Fuel is not the only thing that’s going to be expensive and scarce when oil production decreases and prices start getting really high.
One of the most fundamental things actually, food, is going to be expensive and scarce. Almost all pesticides and fertilizers are hydrocarbon (oil) based, aswell as obviously distribution of said things. Without oil there is no way to grow nearly as much food as we do today, let alone transport it.
Other important and useful things made out of or with the help of oil: all plastic products, anesthetics, antihistamines (allergy medicine), antiseptics (used in surgery to reduce possibility of infections), aspirin, bandages, deodorants, detergents, eye glasses, electrical wiring insulation, food preservatives, food packaging, glue, shampoo, shaving cream, toothpaste, trash bags, vitamin capsules, water pipes, yarn and the list goes on.
Conclusion: Life is going to be a bit different with little or no oil.
Matt
I live in the shetland islands, north of scotland, just down the road from me the prices are £129.9 for petrol and £144.9 for diesel
For the americans here:
$9.67/gallon for petrol
$10.70/gallon for diesel
Also, there’s very little public transport here, I’m a gap year student and I have a 55 mile round trip drive to work every day… that’s £7.92/$15.64 just to drive to work and back each day, based on the manufacturer claims for my car, which it rarely does as well as.
I fill up my car about once a week, it costs £60-£70, so over £3000 a year just on petrol… Any of the americans here spending $500/month on fuel?
Johan’s right.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1809900,00.html
We need bio-fuels and we need them now! I think it was on CNBC this morning but they were showing how 50,000 to 100,000 thousand barrels of bio-fuel can be made per year per acre with algae. Simple pond scum can be grown in a verticle algae farm and turned in to bio-fuel.
That’s the answer right there.