Elanintheforest wrote:It looks like we'll see a massive change over the next 10 to 15 years, as the demand from China and India is rising exponentially, and oil is getting harder to find. The ex-CEO of Shell for the US was interviewed recently about where fuel prices are going, and industry expectations are that it will hit $10 a gallon within 5 years in the US, and maybe double that within 10 years.
Part of that will be the tax that the world will demand is put on fossil fuel, to fund the development of a realistic alternative, but a large part will be on the cost of the fuel itself, as supply gets more expensive whilst demand increases considerably. That's without additional pressure from the global climate change lobby.
So we baby boomers have had the best of it all, really!
But there really are cars out there that are super-economical, and folks who complain about the price of petrol driving a car that 'only' does 40mpg can half their bills if they want to. The Nissan Micra diesel does 85mpg, but it doesn't come with a paper bag to put over your head so you won't be recognised...you have to provide that. If you drive an F100 that struggles to get 20mpg, you can quarter your bills. LPG will reduce bills by a third, but only if you keep the car for 3 years, with average mileage, to pay for the conversion.
But hey, with beer at ?24 a gallon (I can make that at home) and bottled mineral water at ?15 a gallon (free from a tap), petrol is still cheap.
I think that I'd find fractional distillation of the crude oil a very messy and complex thing to do in my garage.
Mark
All valid & great points mentioned there, I think.
What really upsets me about GB is that there was masses of money available from the sale of north sea gas & oil which should have then been put to use in renewable energy.
I will never forget an Uncle of mine who when looking at the tide race in the Severn at Portishead, said to me as a little lad, "look at all of that potential energy!"
Now nobody can raise the funds to put a barrier across that stretch of water; what a waste.
Oh & the "green" & "NIMBY" arguments against just do not add up.
Britain has made attempts to take the big burners off the roads by imposing very high road tax charges on them but the majority of owners have so much wealth that it doesn't worry them; rather like those banger & crash historic racers discussed in another thread here.
They are most likely ones to put bottled water on the table as well, because it's "the thing to do"
I'm just lovin' this thread & letting off a bit of steam
Yes I'm a "baby boomer" & loved every part of my youth; in GB it was the best era ever, although I doubt if the Miners would go along with that.
I really do pity today's kids, they've got a major struggle to contend with & its no wonder that so many of them give up early
Cheers
John