Rant about cheaper fuel

[FarmerPug]

I get fair fuel emails all the time, now they sent me this link for some petition about cheaper fuel:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/347

[sirwiggum]

It's a difficult one.

I don't think fuel should be over-taxed because of the whole 'Global Warming' myth which is a fundraiser by successive governments.

However, the wholesale cost of fuel will go up and up, as it is getting harder to extract from the ground (including risky offshore projects, like BP in the Gulf of Mexico).

We need to be funding alternative energy sources, and I don't mean token windmills that don't work with no wind, or solar panels that don't work when it is cloudy, but proper Nuclear power stations or investigate claims of Fusion made by Japanese scientists.

[Bailes1992]

It's a difficult one.

I don't think fuel should be over-taxed because of the whole 'Global Warming' myth which is a fundraiser by successive governments.

However, the wholesale cost of fuel will go up and up, as it is getting harder to extract from the ground (including risky offshore projects, like BP in the Gulf of Mexico).

We need to be funding alternative energy sources, and I don't mean token windmills that don't work with no wind, or solar panels that don't work when it is cloudy, but proper Nuclear power stations or investigate claims of Fusion made by Japanese scientists.

Theres perfectly good replacements!
80% of Petrol ford Focuses in Sweeden run on Bioethanol.
100% of all Diesel engines CAN run on well made BioDiesel...

Why aren't we funding these? Why arent we getting petrol stations to stock these fuels? Why aren't we giving subsidies to people who want to buy new cars running bio fuels and/or want to convert their old cars to run on biofuels?

Makes no sense to me.

[FarmerPug]

it probably doesnt make profits for the shareholders of the oil companies.

biodiesel would be good if it was available and a good quality.
for petrol cars we dont have much choice here, its either unleaded or super unleaded, you need to fork out for an lpg conversion and put up with having to find a filling station.

[Bailes1992]

it probably doesnt make profits for the shareholders of the oil companies.

biodiesel would be good if it was available and a good quality.
for petrol cars we dont have much choice here, its either unleaded or super unleaded, you need to fork out for an lpg conversion and put up with having to find a filling station.

Petrol cars can't just run bioethanol, they do need to be converted. There are 2 or 3 stations in the UK selling it.
They should be subsidisng bioethanol conversions instead of this stupid scrappage scheme they were running.

I would love to see Biodiesel readily avalible to good quality. There should be standards set for it, much like there is for petrol and diesel.

[sirwiggum]

Ironic that Rudolf Diesel intended his engines to run on peanut oil!

[FarmerPug]

then they invented common rail injection, to make a diesel more like a petrol

[sirwiggum]

then they invented common rail injection, to make a diesel more like a petrol

Yep. They had to to get round European emissions legislations.

Used to like the sound of an old XUD or something like an old Automatic Merc W123 diesel.

[FarmerPug]

i like the sound of an xud or old merc straight 5/6 but i wouldnt want it all the time, the quietness of the hdi is very nice.

We have places here in northern ireland where you can get diesel at suspicously cheap prices, you drive up the road and you either hear your engine blow or that the place has been raided.

[lozz]

It's a difficult one.

I don't think fuel should be over-taxed because of the whole 'Global Warming' myth which is a fundraiser by successive governments.

However, the wholesale cost of fuel will go up and up, as it is getting harder to extract from the ground (including risky offshore projects, like BP in the Gulf of Mexico).

We need to be funding alternative energy sources, and I don't mean token windmills that don't work with no wind, or solar panels that don't work when it is cloudy, but proper Nuclear power stations or investigate claims of Fusion made by Japanese scientists.

Theres perfectly good replacements!
80% of Petrol ford Focuses in Sweeden run on Bioethanol.
100% of all Diesel engines CAN run on well made BioDiesel...

Why aren't we funding these? Why arent we getting petrol stations to stock these fuels? Why aren't we giving subsidies to people who want to buy new cars running bio fuels and/or want to convert their old cars to run on biofuels?

Makes no sense to me.

the Goverment wouidnt fund it, its there main profit,

Global warming im confused with the mention of its name, if it was Warming whys it so fecking cold
isay break out the coal fires and burn everything in them, save money that way,
fuel prices will remain high for ever, just a case of getting on with it, its good to Moan tho

[rwb]

Global warming im confused with the mention of its name, if it was Warming whys it so fecking cold

I think Labour re-branded it as "climate change".
You know, like "the end of boom and bust" is now "global economic crisis".

[sirwiggum]

Global warming im confused with the mention of its name, if it was Warming whys it so fecking cold

I think Labour re-branded it as "climate change".
You know, like "the end of boom and bust" is now "global economic crisis".

"Hug a Hoodie" became "broken penal system"

Climate change is a catchall term for the natural warming and cooling of the earth.

The Medieval Warm Period ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Warm_Period ) and Little Ice Age ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ice_Age ) where caused several hundred years before the concept of a horseless carriage was even thought of!

[gumby6371]

I agree 100% with the idea of good quality, readily available biodiesel, as diesel is steadily becoming the fuel of choice for the masses. (never quite understood how a less 'refined' fuel cost more at the pump tho??)
Only trouble is until one of the big fuel suppliers seriously throws cash at the fuel from crops sector it's never going to take off.

It's also a very curious thing that when I was a youngster John Craven used to tell me about surplus grain mountains and subsidies to farmers as we over produced in vast quantities, did they all stop growing the stuff or can't we just ship it to a bio-diesel plant, oh hang on a second, high prices can't be justified on a plentiful, eco-friendly item therefore it won't happen!!!

Everybody has to buy a Prius and pay through the nose to run it (even tho a well maintained 8 year old HDI will probably use less fuel and be cheaper to maintain and be less of a nightmare when it becomes time to scrap and dispose of the noxious chemicals in the batteries!!!!!)

Anyway the 110 million in the euro lottery has my name written all over it so I'm buying a V6 coupe

[ally406]

Biofuels are not the solution, although they might be part of the solution. Look at the corrupt subsidies the american government gives out to certain states for the production of bio-ethanol. There are plenty of studies out there show that optimistacally to create 1 litre of bio-ethanol requires 1.3 litres of regular petrol. Going down the route of growing mass crops for fuel is not so cut and dry as it seems. Even with the likes of myself burning WVO, it could be argued that we shouldn't be eating so much fried food to produce this waste product, and hence the resource would never be spent in the first place.

The age of personal tranportation is here and no amount of taxation will push people onto the useless public transport system. We should be focusing on driving smaller, more economical cars that are built and designed to be easy to work on and repair. There was an interesting thing on 5th gear about McLaren who had developed a small single seater car that got huge MPG, but at the same time had a modular design and was easy to fix. In theory you could keep a car like that for a lifetime, as nothing would cost a fortune to repair. A BMW X5 probably costs the planet 10-20x the resource, but plenty of people seem to insist on driving these stupid vehicles to work every day. If anything, this proves fuel is not expensive enough.

[sirwiggum]

X5s are ridiculous.

If you pitched the current car idea to Dragons Den 1880, they would've said "Am out".

Tescos if you spend £50 on messages give you 5p off a litre.