Oil at record $68 as demand soars

[Big Booger]

Oil prices hit a record $68 a barrel on Thursday after the US reported a fall in gasoline stocks, while China said its crude imports had risen sharply.

Fears that tropical storm Katrina might hit production in the Gulf of Mexico also pushed the cost of oil higher.

US light crude touched $68 a barrel in Asian trade before finishing the day at $67.49. London's Brent crude touched $66.56 before closing at $66.27.

Demand from the US, China and India is expected to keep oil prices high.

:source: Source: BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4182878.stm)

YOu better buy a bicycle. :D I bought one months ago... lines at the local gas station might get quite long... anyone remember the 70's oil crisis??? A bit different situation, but the effect should be quite similar.

The US poor are really going to suffer from this. It will be hard for them to find jobs without cars, most cities have limited public transportation offers....

Perhaps Segway sales might go through the roof?? :D

We need alternate forms of transporation and energy and we need them YESTERDAY!!!

[PIPER]

how about using one of the hoe's to pull u around in a rickshaw...lol:D

[Big Booger]

how about using one of the hoe's to pull u around in a rickshaw...lol:D
I don't think The SAVEAHOE FOUNDATION (http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16381) would approve of that statement Piper... :assshake: :D

[rik]

Gas prices are lower here than elsewhere in the country I'm sure, but they are still killin me.

[tarun]

how about using one of the hoe's to pull u around in a rickshaw...lol:D

How about just riding one of the ho's :p

PS: Couldnt resist it, but I'll shut up now...

[joshsiao]

If you do realise, the industrialised world depends heavily on crude oil. Without it, the world economy as you know it will come to a grinding halt.

Alots of things comes from crude oil one way or another. For example, plastics! No more oil, plastic prices will soar. Even some medicines depend on plastics. Products that you use everyday like shampoo or soap is derived from crude oil.

If you think of hydrogen fuel cells, think again. The hydrogen is derived by cracking crude oil. Electrolysis of water is too expensive and slow. Margarine will become more expensive than butter. Cars will stop no just because of petrol but also no lubricating oils. Generally, the entire petrochemical industry will stop!

We are too dependant on oil. We can never stop using it! Just thing of all the objects that have plastics or how it can be derived from crude oil.

[tarun]

We will have to all start greasing cycle chains and wheels with animal fat and go back to using swords.

Would certainly reduce pollution and send us back to before the industrial revolution. I am sure though, that science will overcome this handicap. Maybe solar power and electricity can find a way out. There isn't a lack of energy sources. We'll just adapt our technology to better suit alternate sources. If it comes down to such a drastic change, then the economy will turn topsy turvy with developed nations becoming developing, but eventually the country with the best technology will find a means to harness other sources.

[Big Booger]

If you do realise, the industrialised world depends heavily on crude oil. Without it, the world economy as you know it will come to a grinding halt.

Alots of things comes from crude oil one way or another. For example, plastics! No more oil, plastic prices will soar. Even some medicines depend on plastics. Products that you use everyday like shampoo or soap is derived from crude oil.

If you think of hydrogen fuel cells, think again. The hydrogen is derived by cracking crude oil. Electrolysis of water is too expensive and slow. Margarine will become more expensive than butter. Cars will stop no just because of petrol but also no lubricating oils. Generally, the entire petrochemical industry will stop!

We are too dependant on oil. We can never stop using it! Just thing of all the objects that have plastics or how it can be derived from crude oil.


Josh I think that is a very narrow view. The truth is, we did fine without plastics in the past. Sure they make life quite comfortable. The truth is, those same plastics create tons of waste that will be around for billions of years if left to degrade naturally.

Glass, aluminium, tin, hell even pewter can replace thousands and thousands of plastic components, tools and utensils. And good old wood and paper do quite a bit less damage to the enviroment than plastic.

http://www.mindfully.org/Plastic/Alternatives/Alternatives-Plastic-Goettlich3aug05.htm

And I know it's shortsighted to say that plastics can totally be removed from the world. That's foolhardy.

What I am saying is our dependence on oil will be our undoing. We are depending on it far too much, and when it runs out, life will be tough.

Hydrogen can actually be produced two ways effectively:

either by splitting water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen or by separating hydrogen from natural gas or methane.

Both are costly, but done on a large scale and with proper backing by the government, it can and will have to be a method employed to curb our addiction to oil.

Hydrogen is not the holy grail of oil salvation. Far from it, alternate forms of cooling and heating, like solar powered air conditioning, wind power, hydro-electric and I hate to say this, but Nuclear power.

But creating Hydrogen with today's technology does require oil at least some point in the process. Stay tuned to see where hydrogen tech goes in the future.

That does not leave out battery powered/hybrid/and solar powered or even a combination of all three, to take on the role of at least reducing by large margins our dependency on crude oil/gasoline/etc.

imagine the impact if half of all Americans rode a bicycle to work 3 times a week... Say on clear skied days... I mean... just imagine that for a moment.

There are other ways to reduce. I think most cities should ban private vehicles period. There should be electric taxis, electric buses, and of course trains and subs to take care of commuters.

Think about how many oil crunching cars, trucks, buses, and so on are sitting right now in NY idling due to traffic.. LA, Tokyo, London... it's horrific.

Here's a nice article on how to live without oil.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8769620/site/newsweek/

Read this part twice:

The conventional wisdom is that $50 (NOW $68)-a-barrel oil has made alternatives to fossil fuels economically viable. But the truth is that they were viable back when oil was $25 a barrel. The arguments in favor of phasing out oil have now merely become overwhelming.

And back to the plastic production with oil:

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2005Jan/gee20050124028808.htm

Have a read, using CO2 and limonene *orange compound* as a component scientists managed to produce plastic!

Renewable resource

This polymer has many of the characteristics of polystyrene, which is used in numerous disposable plastic products.

"Almost every plastic out there, from the polyester in clothing to the plastics used for food packaging and electronics, goes back to the use of petroleum as a building block," said Professor Coates.

"If you can get away from using oil and instead use readily abundant, renewable and cheap resources, then that's something we need to investigate.

"What's exciting about this work is that from completely renewable resources, we were able to make a plastic with very nice qualities."

Coates' team is interested in using carbon dioxide as an alternative building block for polymers in industry. The gas could be isolated and used to produce plastics such as polylimonene oxide.

CO2 is the principal greenhouse gas caused by human activities, and is emitted by fossil fuel burning and deforestation.

For every oil process that produces something, an alternative should be readily and eagerly found.

This is not just the responsibility of the US, UK, China, etc.. it is for the benefit of the world (well maybe not the middle east and Venezuela) but indeed it will fix a lot issues that are mounting.

[jan]

Alternatives should be readily and eagerly found no doubt. In the mean time america needs to drill for more oil, produce more refineries and reduce the nonsense of diff blends for gas in diff parts of the country.

Unfortunately the environmental extremists prob wont allow any of this w/their willing accomplices in the main stream news media, hollywood, government school union employees and the elected socialists on capitol hill. After all, the more nails they can put into our (economic) coffin the happier they all are. :(


Socialism = Spreading equality by making everybody equally miserable.

[petard]

Some people are more equal than others.
:D