$7 Gallon gas

a reply to: carewemust

I know this is a dumb suggestion probably but have you ever thought about doing drone delivery?

My youngest recently signed up for a service that lets people request drone jobs. Could be delivering something by drone, taking photos somewhere, making a video of someone or even just flying a patrol route on a regular basis

It’s an App. I don’t know if I can mention the name here but it’s a very prominent app for drone jobs

Anyhow, my youngest and I both took the Part 107 test which is technically required for any commercial drone stuff. But it only cost around $200 to do and might be worth it if your looking to get into something on the side. You get paid in the app just like lift or Door Dash

To the people saying we replace fossil fuel with electricity

HOW? It’s a great idea. But a lot of you already ruined nuclear power projects in the past. It’s a great plan but starting today it will take about 10 years to get those new plants built and operational and delivering useable power

You’ve stuck us with fossil fuel by shunning safe nuclear power. Exceedingly safe nuclear power.

a reply to: JAGStorm

The only difference is that this is transparently caused by poor management and total lack of competence at the federal and state government level. Especially federal but many states too

I fully would expect people not to take this depression laying down

If it happens the government is the enemy and eat the rich. Oops did I write that

originally posted by: JBurns
Wouldn’t running on grain alcohol be cheaper

No, we don't have enough arable land to grow enough grain for fuel, feedstock consumption and our own consumption.

The issue is we need more domestic refining capacity so our extracted products can be refined here and used here more efficiently.

a reply to: JBurns



If the US would refine the oil we produce instead of exporting it to foreign countries, perhaps the price would go down for almost everything. But the big oil corps need the money for their stockholders and everyone else has to suffer.

share.america.gov...

marketrealist.com...

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: JBurns
Wouldn’t running on grain alcohol be cheaper

No, we don't have enough arable land to grow enough grain for fuel, feedstock consumption and our own consumption.

The issue is we need more domestic refining capacity so our extracted products can be refined here and used here more efficiently.

So what you're saying is, we need to invade Canada.

So it begins. . . . .

Funny, the average price of cheap car gas is slightly more than the average price of Airplane AVGas. On that note it takes a bit for airplane gas to catch up. Glad I don’t fly a gas sucker twin!

originally posted by: DBCowboy

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: JBurns
Wouldn’t running on grain alcohol be cheaper

No, we don't have enough arable land to grow enough grain for fuel, feedstock consumption and our own consumption.

The issue is we need more domestic refining capacity so our extracted products can be refined here and used here more efficiently.

So what you're saying is, we need to invade Canada.

So it begins. . . . .

There are only like 14 people there....and 5 are members here.

Alcohol can be made with wood. If it becomes really bad, you could get some wood, sulfuric acid and a still and make ethanol.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
So what you're saying is, we need to invade Canada.

So it begins. . . . .

Russia = Putin, Canada = Poutine. Need any more reasons?

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Hemp seed oil… Diesel engines… from seed press to paper filter to tank.

And you have all those unused fibers for textiles and paper goods including boxes for packaging other manufactured goods.

But that means domestic productivity instead of third world country exploitation. Can’t have that. I mean other than going to worship at Mecca, why would anyone go to Saudi Arabia and spend money if it wasn’t for the oil? China, once you have seen The Great Wall and Shaolin Temple, what else is there except business deals?

At least here in the states, traveling I-10 between El Paso and Tucson you are at least tantalized in stopping to see The Thing, Great Mystery of the Desert. And that is probably some of the most desolate area to travel. All of I-10 is once past Louisiana until just before Los Angeles.

a reply to: Ahabstar

I don't see that as a viable source for replacing gasoline, the amount of arable land required would be enormous.

For everyone who is claiming that electric or hydrogen will replace hydrocarbon fuel (aka gasoline/diesel), nope. Electricity and hydrogen are not energy sources... they are energy reservoirs.

Electricity must be produced from an energy source, be that solar, wind turbines, hydrocarbon fuel, hydro-electrics, or nuclear reactions. Of those, only hydrocarbons and nuclear are generally viable. Hydro-electric requires running water, which we have pretty much ran out of, and solar/wind are niche sources and not conducive to large-scale energy production over the long term.

Nuclear is a good option; I like nuclear. But nuclear is dangerous if not properly designed and maintained, and thus is expensive and time-consuming to construct. A nuclear power plant requires at least 5 years to construct (plus a few additional years to inspect, test, and approve) and billions of dollars in investment. If we decided right now, this minute, to go whole-hog nuclear, we would not see the first watt from that decision materialize until 2030 at least.

That leaves hydrocarbons... oil. Or coal, but we don't like coal. We'd rather die of exposure than burn a lump of coal to keep warm.

Electrical wave energy is promising, but there are technical issues with corrosion. It would also be useless more than a few hundred miles from the shore.

Hydrogen exists as the most abundant element in the universe... but not as hydrogen. It exists primarily (on earth anyway) in compounds. The most abundant compound? Water. It requires energy to separate hydrogen from oxygen in water, and as it turns out, physics says we need as much energy to separate it as we get when we burn it.

So again, we need hydrocarbons. Unless someone knows about a fleet of spaceships that are going to harvest clouds of interstellar gas. I haven't heard of any expected to be launched soon... and if they are launched, what will power them?

Bottom line, even if EVs or hydrogen engines are developed, they will not reduce our dependency on oil, nor will they lead to any cost savings for the public. EVs will also suffer from a lack of infrastructure, limited range, additional pollution from manufacture of those fancy batteries, and maintenance issues (electrical connections and constant vibration do not play well together).

The economic impact will be devastating. Fuel costs affect everything, even the fuel cost itself. Those tankers don't run on air; even the cost of fuel is dependent on the cost of fuel. We are already in hyperinflation; in the past four months I have seen food prices jump anywhere from 25% to 200%. Gas has gone from $1.90 in November 2020 to $4.30 as of yesterday evening. Diesel is now $5.40 a gallon. That's not in New York or California... that's in Alabama. I cannot fathom what fuel prices are in California right now.

I expect gas to top $5 a gallon by the end of the month... I expect diesel to be over $6.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned fuel surcharges... yes, they still exist, but they went to $0 under Trump. They exist because shippers were caught with their pants down the last time we saw a fuel price spike under Obama and they don't want that to happen again. A fuel surcharge is a percentage of the fuel cost above a specified amount, payable to whoever buys the fuel for transportation (the company for company drivers; the driver for owner-ops). It is still in almost every shipping contract.

What is going to happen is as follows: as costs for basic goods like food or fuel rise, those prices will increase. That will mean less disposable income for many families and thus less money to buy other things. That will reduce demand for those other things, and will keep the prices pretty close to level even with higher shipping costs. The reduced demand will also cause layoffs in the manufacture/importation of such goods, which will lead to more people in poverty. That will lead to more government assistance, which will only happen through increased debt or higher taxation. Both will cause more inflation.

At the same time, less people driving means less tax revenue. That means more of our infrastructure will fall into disrepair, and that in itself will feed back into shipping costs (maintenance). Employment will become more expensive too, as no one will pay in gas for the privilege of working. Wages must cover the cost of getting to and from work. That will feed back into more inflation.

We are looking at another Great Depression... only this time, I don't think most people will be able to handle it.

This all ends in revolution... bloody, messy, violent revolution. And it might take a few generations for people to become strong enough through adversity to pull it off. Angry tweets will not be enough.

Welcome to Utopia.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

We are looking at another Great Depression... only this time, I don't think most people will be able to handle it.

Guess I should ween my teen off of avocado toast!

The Great Depression is one of my favorite time periods to read/research about. I may have had a past life during that time. What is not talked about a lot is that there were A LOT of people during that time that didn’t handle it well either!
There was a period of great excess before it happened, that’s where we get those lovely houses!
We like to highlight the strength of the people and how they endured, but the truth is a lot of them had massive psychological issues in the aftermath. That is why great grandma couldn’t throw away a little bit of string, or paper.

originally posted by: JAGStorm
a reply to: TheRedneck



We like to highlight the strength of the people and how they endured, but the truth is a lot of them had massive psychological issues in the aftermath. That is why great grandma couldn’t throw away a little bit of string, or paper.

So it wasn't just my family.

a reply to: JAGStorm

My grandmother was the same way. She wouldn't part with anything. My mother as well, just not to such a great extent. I guess that comes from my grandfather being a sharecropper all his life. He never owned a home; he always farmed someone else's place for a part of the harvest. It was a hard life.

One of my favorite memories was of helping him pick cotton. I was too small to pull a full bag, so Dad would put an empty bag on me and when I started struggling with it, he would take it and finish that one and give me another empty. The bags were taller than I was!

I even have a little of that, from going through some very rough financial times. I'm not a hoarder, but I am a "reuser." I found several old toilets cleaning out the barn; they are now tomato/pepper planters (and work great). I have an old rose vine here that is beautiful but completely out of control; I found an old wagon wheel hidden in the barn and am turning it into a trellis (it's already stripped and painted, just waiting on weather to set it up). I also tend to fix things others throw away.

Hard times tend to affect people that way... makes 'em hard and tough. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." I'll survive a depression... but I won't like it. I know precious few others who could survive, including many who think they could.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

My grandma and my mom to an extent faced real starvation.. To the point where you would eat just about anything.
In such, they did NOT waste food. My poor mom nearly had a heart attack coming to my house, we could be better about food waste.

This is one memory I have of my grandma.. It is gross, sad, and above all eye opening.

I was four or five and she was babysitting me. She was making something with spam. She took the spam out and then she got a spoon and scraped every bit of spam “jello” fat and ate it. I stood there watching. Even as a child of that age I knew what that meant. She would not let one bead of food go to waste.

To this day she has also gone down in the family history as the greatest cook of all time, the one who made things from scratch scratch, she grew, fermented, caught, processed, all of her food. She had a very difficult life. When I’m having a pity party, I have to remind myself of what my ancestors went through for me to be in the place I’m in….

a reply to: JAGStorm

I remember one week when I was forced to go without food. I simply ran out of money. At the time I was working full time wiring houses (sub-contractor), evenings drawing house plans, and was going to college full time. There were people I could have gone to for help, I guess, but I was a stubborn, cocky redneck back then and wouldn't swallow my pride.

Hunger is not what people today think it is. Most people think going hungry means they skipped a meal. Nope. Hunger comes in stages... first you feel hungry, really, really hungry. Then after a day or so, that goes away and is replaced by this gnawing emptiness on the inside. It gets hard to walk by food, whether it's yours or not. After a few days of that, the weakness sets in... your body will start burning itself from within. There are periods where you'll be so weak it's an effort just to stand up. Those periods get more frequent and last longer the longer you go without food.

I finished up the house I was working on and got my check. I knocked off early, drove to town, cashed the check, and drove to the closest place that had food: a little Krystal drive-through only joint. I ordered a sackful of Krystals... don't remember of it was 20 or 24... and parked. I sat there and ate every crumb. I was so full I was dizzy and had to wait a while before I could drive home. When I finally made it home, I slept the rest of the day.

I don't think most people could survive that. It changed my thinking... now I do not waste food either. It literally hurts me if there's a crumb left on my plate.

TheRedneck

a reply to: JAGStorm

Holy crap people………….

Look at when I wrote this OP, look at gas prices now.

In some places gas is almost at $7 already!!!!
I knew it would happen and exceed that mark but dang…..that was fast.

a reply to: JAGStorm

2 or 3 weeks ago I had already seen 7.29 outside of needles CA.