gas prices in Iraq

johnjohnson1957 · Post by **johnjohnson1957** » April 2nd, 2008, 5:58 pm

US military units pay an average of $3.23 a gallon for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel while subsidies let Iraqis pay only about $1.36 a gallon.

The U.S. is getting suckered as the cost of the war exceeds half a trillion dollars â€” $10.3 billion a month, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Some lawmakers say oil-rich allies in the Middle East should be doing more to subsidize fuel costs because of the stake they have in a secure Iraq. Others point to Iraq's own burgeoning surplus as crude oil prices top $100 a barrel.

Full story

RTO · Post by **RTO** » April 2nd, 2008, 6:25 pm

Alternative fuels seem to be our only solution.

I can see it now '' Fill 'er up..... oh.....can I get a Big Mac and diet Coke with that french-fry oil?''

lusus · Post by **lusus** » April 2nd, 2008, 7:42 pm

RTO wrote:Alternative fuels seem to be our only solution.

I think we better lift these stupid corn ethanol subsidies to allow for So Am sugarcane-type ethanol in a hurry. Inflation is coming (its here!), and food is going to get a lot more expensive I think. Next, we better worry less about CO2 and more about blackouts and build some coal-fired power plants, or better yet nukes.

Uncle Sam's infrastructure is getting a little scary.

42L5V · Post by **42L5V** » April 2nd, 2008, 7:49 pm

Algae. You heard it here first.

RTO · Post by **RTO** » April 2nd, 2008, 9:28 pm

I believe solar can be used by many more people, especially in the lower 1/3 of the country.
I have a good friend in New Mexico that uses 100% solar for heating, light, electricity, cooling, hot water, everything. With solar panals on their roof they make so much electricity the local power company is actually required by law to buy excess energy from them each month, giving them a tidy little profit each month as well as no energy bill.

Chiron · Post by **Chiron** » April 3rd, 2008, 2:07 am

Over here it's $7.50 a gallon! I really think hard about driving places. I need $80 a week just to drive to work! Work is 8 miles away but traffic is bad.

Chiron · Post by **Chiron** » April 3rd, 2008, 6:33 am

Tater Nuts wrote:we have enough underneath the USA's surface to supply generations, why not use it ?

If we could invent a fuel efficient non-polluting engine it would be a solution that all sides could live with I think.

ANGRYCivilian · Post by **ANGRYCivilian** » April 3rd, 2008, 8:38 am

RTO wrote:I believe solar can be used by many more people, especially in the lower 1/3 of the country.
I have a good friend in New Mexico that uses 100% solar for heating, light, electricity, cooling, hot water, everything. With solar panals on their roof they make so much electricity the local power company is actually required by law to buy excess energy from them each month, giving them a tidy little profit each month as well as no energy bill.

I'm interested in doing this. Do you know what company did the installation, or if he did it himself, and roughly how much the initial cost was?

RTO · Post by **RTO** » April 3rd, 2008, 8:52 am

ANGRYCivilian wrote:
RTO wrote:I believe solar can be used by many more people, especially in the lower 1/3 of the country.
I have a good friend in New Mexico that uses 100% solar for heating, light, electricity, cooling, hot water, everything. With solar panals on their roof they make so much electricity the local power company is actually required by law to buy excess energy from them each month, giving them a tidy little profit each month as well as no energy bill.
I'm interested in doing this. Do you know what company did the installation, or if he did it himself, and roughly how much the initial cost was?

This is not my friend here, but it will give a much better idea of what is involved. Here is a link (read the story then click on the video clip) to see what people are doing today. Let me know if you need more info than this and I can poke around for ya. This should point you in the right direction though.
Cost to retrofit an existing structure might be spendy however, cost is actually less to build this way if you are thinking new construction. If you are buying/building a new house, I don't see why you wouldn't incorporate at least some of these ideas.

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/In ... Bills.aspx

Horned Toad · Post by **Horned Toad** » April 3rd, 2008, 10:53 am

I have a good friend that is off the grid and has a full solar system on his house. It cost around 50k but there was a lot of money from the local co-op, so he wasnâ€™t out of pocket for much money.

http://www.outbackpower.com/

thats the outfit my friend has

Steadfast · Post by **Steadfast** » April 3rd, 2008, 3:29 pm

GM made several electric cars (a few years back) and let a few people around the country use these cars for everyday use for about a year. Then unexplicitedly they took back the cars and burned every single one of them in the desert. Why? I heard they got 110 miles to the gallon. They worked better than anyone imagined they would.

So the question on everyones lips is; who paid them off to destroy these cars? & shelf the project.

johnjohnson1957 · Post by **johnjohnson1957** » April 3rd, 2008, 7:24 pm

Steadfast wrote

GM made several electric cars (a few years back) and let a few people around the country use these cars for everyday use for about a year. Then unexplicitedly they took back the cars and burned every single one of them in the desert. Why? I heard they got 110 miles to the gallon. They worked better than anyone imagined they would.

These were General Motor's EV1 which were offered for lease in CA and AZ on a limited test basis. I think they were just electric power (i.e., no gas engine). They used a special charging station to recharge them and had a range of between 70 and 150 miles depending on which batery pack was used.

A documentary film on this car was called "Who killed the electric car?" and played the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals. It is still available on DVD (on line). Documentary claims that the EV1 cost the same to operate as a gas engined car if gas cost $0.60 a gallon.

Long cite on wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1

RTO · Post by **RTO** » April 3rd, 2008, 9:21 pm

Just in case you were wondering.......

Why Exxon won't produce more oil
The energy giant is being managed to achieve an acceptable investment return for shareholders, not for the benefit of consumers. Less supply of crude oil means higher prices -- and record profits.....

Halfway through the three-hour meeting, Exxon management flashed a chart that showed the company's worldwide oil production staying flat through 2012.....

Ponder that for a minute. Exxon is the largest publicly traded company in the energy business. In fact, it's the most profitable company in the history of capitalism, earning a record $40.6 billion last year on sales of $404 billion. Yet even with crude oil prices near all-time highs, Exxon isn't planning on producing any more oil four years from now than it did last year......

That means the company's oil output won't even keep pace with its own projections of worldwide oil demand growth of 1.3% a year......

"It really goes back to what is an acceptable investment return for us," Tillerson said. In other words, producing more barrels just to ease prices for consumers is not part of the company's calculations.

Link To Story....