Oil

[usctrojancpa]

Oil companies have little to no incentive to help an admiration that has made it a public policy to kill their industry.  They make twice the profits pumping the same amount of oil they did 6 months ago.  Taxing unused leases is stupid and shows a total lack of understanding how the lease and drill market works.  One million barrels a day does little to impact prices.  Brandon wants to drain the reserves anyway in order to drive up future prices and try to kill the oil industry in a vein attempt to bolster the electric market...it won't work and will only make the pain worse.  Only a call to reduce regulation and unleash drilling will flood the market with cheaper oil and bring down prices. Basic econ 101. The markets know this but will have to wait out till after the midterms

The sad part is that cars only use a faction of the oil.  The majority of the oil is used by manufacturers for chemicals, clothes, anything that has plastic in it, and jet fuel.  Last time I checked planes are not going electric anytime soon.  Even if 50% of all cars are EV we will still be very dependent on oil for everything else.

I believe the process of making batteries is also not so eco-friendly either. And right now I?m not sure if there is a eco-friendly way of disposing batteries. Don?t even talk about car batteries, we are disposing smart phones at such a quick rate too. I?m not even sure if there is a process to dispose that in a eco-friendly way.

Yeah Lithium batteries are no so fun to make and deal with when they are used up.  Also, I'd like to know if some of the big environmentalists would be willing to stop buying all their newer tech gadgets to help the economy.  My guess is that most all wouldn't be willing to do that. I also think that hybrid cars and making combustion engines more efficient is the way to go.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I realize there are people here who love combustion engines... but that's old tech and will go the way of hobbyists.

There are way more benefits by going EV or alternative other than "green" reasons. Less noise, less maintenance and less worry about "drilling".

It's okay, just like computers, mobile phones and internet... people need time to adjust.

 

[morekaos]

I realize there are people here who love combustion engines... but that's old tech and will go the way of hobbyists.

There are way more benefits by going EV or alternative other than "green" reasons. Less noise, less maintenance and less worry about "drilling".

It's okay, just like computers, mobile phones and internet... people need time to adjust.

Because this is what you get when you mess with the free markets and try to force unprofitable ideas on an economy...Kaos ensues...

Germany's energy fiasco

MUNICH  ?  Germany long regarded its energy transition as cutting edge, compared to other Western industrialised countries. Policymakers expected that the country would be able to secure its energy supply entirely from renewable sources, so they resolved to phase out coal and nuclear energy simultaneously. The last three of Germany?s 17 nuclear power plants are set to be shut down this year.

Green politicians in Germany always hoped that other countries would emulate this energy agenda once they saw how well it was working. But, in light of the war in Ukraine, the world is instead witnessing how Germany?s approach has created a policy disaster.

To cushion the twin phaseout of coal and nuclear, and to close supply gaps during the long transition to renewable energy, Germany decided to build a large number of additional gas-fired power plants. Even immediately before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, policymakers assumed that the gas for these facilities would always come from Russia, which supplied more than half of Germany?s needs.

If Germany suddenly halted Russian gas imports, gas-based residential heating systems, on which half the German population, approximately 40 million people, rely, and industrial processes that rely heavily on gas imports would break down before replacement energy became available. The government would be unlikely to survive the resulting economic chaos, public uproar, and outrage should gas become unavailable or heating costs rise dramatically. In fact, the likely scale of domestic disruption would call into question the cohesion of the Western response to the Ukraine war.

Only in the longer term, say, 3-5 years, will German LNG terminals be able to replace Russian deliveries with gas from other parts of the world. But by then, Russia will be building new pipelines to China, India, and other Asian countries that will eagerly purchase and burn the gas that Germany releases.

In both the short and the long term, therefore, the West will be unable to make things difficult for Russia by shutting down gas pipelines without making things equally difficult for itself.
http://jordantimes.com/opinion/hans-werner-sinn/germanys-energy-fiasco

 

[usctrojancpa]

I realize there are people here who love combustion engines... but that's old tech and will go the way of hobbyists.

There are way more benefits by going EV or alternative other than "green" reasons. Less noise, less maintenance and less worry about "drilling".

It's okay, just like computers, mobile phones and internet... people need time to adjust.

I worry about the electric system being able to handle all of the new EVs.  We are already dealing with black and brown outs, I can't image the electric system will be able to handle the energy needs one heavy use days if the number of EVs increase.  Let's hope for the best.

 

[CalBears96]

Unleashing drilling and reducing regulation is not the answer either.

This is not a real supply/demand issue, it's a corporate greed one... again, less than 10% of our oil is from Russia so how does that suddenly result in dollar hikes of gas prices?

Reducing reliance on oil by alternative fuels is the long term solution.

Exactly. Oil price has dropped from the high of $120 and has been stabilizing around $100, but gas price has been going up and up. How is that not corporate greed?

 

[Ready2Downsize]

Unleashing drilling and reducing regulation is not the answer either.

This is not a real supply/demand issue, it's a corporate greed one... again, less than 10% of our oil is from Russia so how does that suddenly result in dollar hikes of gas prices?

Reducing reliance on oil by alternative fuels is the long term solution.

Exactly. Oil price has dropped from the high of $120 and has been stabilizing around $100, but gas price has been going up and up. How is that not corporate greed?

Costco lowered their gas price 30 cents a day or two ago.

 

[Kenkoko]

I worry about the electric system being able to handle all of the new EVs.  We are already dealing with black and brown outs, I can't image the electric system will be able to handle the energy needs one heavy use days if the number of EVs increase.  Let's hope for the best.

Our electrical grid is graded D+ currently. Most of the transmission & distribution lines were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s with a 50-year life expectancy.

The growth of EVs is actually forcing much needed upgrades in our energy infrastructure.

 

[CalBears96]

Unleashing drilling and reducing regulation is not the answer either.

This is not a real supply/demand issue, it's a corporate greed one... again, less than 10% of our oil is from Russia so how does that suddenly result in dollar hikes of gas prices?

Reducing reliance on oil by alternative fuels is the long term solution.

Exactly. Oil price has dropped from the high of $120 and has been stabilizing around $100, but gas price has been going up and up. How is that not corporate greed?

Costco lowered their gas price 30 cents a day or two ago.

I don't know which Costco you're referring to, but the one at Spectrum is still at $5.59, and the Eastvale Costco that I paid $5.45 last week is now at $5.55.

 

[morekaos]

Tone and Tenor can dictate policy...drill baby drill is the ONLY way out....happened once and market forces will make it happen again...

Biden's energy screw-up

history is helpful. Before 2008, government and private-sector experts were projecting shortages of oil and natural gas in the U.S. with accompanying high prices. But Texan George Mitchell?s innovations in fracking and drilling technology turned the tables. Oil and natural gas prices plummeted, transforming the electricity sector and bucking the Great Recession with new investment in energy production, manufacturing, and heavy industry.

As American producers drove down prices, OPEC and Russia cut back their own production. Events that normally would have rocked global oil markets ? political upheaval in Venezuela or the Iranian attack on Saudi oil fields in 2019 ? hardly caught the attention of Americans filling up at the pump because the flood of new domestic resources was filling the shortfall.

Today, coal, oil, and natural gas meet roughly 80% of Americans? total energy needs. Petroleum meets 90% of transportation fuel needs. In 2020, 83% of global energy consumption for power, transportation, and heat was met by these energy resources. This has remained roughly unchanged for decades, even as global energy consumption increased and renewable energy technologies were introduced into energy markets.

Global energy needs are expected to increase in the decades to come. The EIA?s International Energy Outlook projects global demand for oil and natural gas in each of various possible scenarios through at least 2050. Global energy use is expected to increase by 50% by then.

And that?s a good thing. Too many people around the world, and particularly in developing nations, still do not have access to modern energy and electricity. As a result, they can?t approach anything near the standards of living that affordable, reliable energy has enabled in the U.S. These countries cannot afford Biden?s narrow and costly energy policies, and it would be immoral to withhold life-giving energy resources from them. As countries such as India have shown, they do not intend to forgo useful and affordable energy options.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/bidens-energy-screw-up

 

[morekaos]

Classic example of corporations on the surface virtue signaling compliance, knowing that what is being mandated is impossible. So instead of not reaching the unobtanium...they find a "work around"...Just human nature but a repeatable outcome...If this mandate stands (probably won't) they will cheat... ;D ;D >

New vehicles must average 40 mpg by 2026, up from 28 mpg

DETROIT ? New vehicles sold in the U.S. will have to average at least 40 miles per gallon of gasoline in 2026, up from about 28 mpg, under new federal rules unveiled Friday that undo a rollback of standards enacted under President Donald Trump.
https://www.startribune.com/new-vehicles-must-average-40-mpg-by-2026-up-from-28-mpg/600161327/

Why Volkswagen Cheated

On December 10, Volkswagen Chairman Hans-Dieter P?tsch made a public admission: A group of the company's engineers decided to cheat on emissions tests in 2005 because they couldn't find a technical solution within the company's "time frame and budget" to build diesel engines that would meet U.S. emissions standards. When the engineers did find a solution, he said, they chose to keep on cheating, rather than employ it. "We are not talking about a one-off mistake, but a whole chain of mistakes that was not interrupted at any point along the timeline," he said, announcing the preliminary results of an internal investigation at Volkswagen into the crisis at a press conference at the company's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. Volkswagen admitted this past autumn to installing illegal cheat software into the engines of 500,000 U.S. vehicles and 11 million vehicles worldwide.
https://www.newsweek.com/2015/12/25/why-volkswagen-cheated-404891.html
https://youtu.be/tMDneicBizU

 

[qwerty]

I realize there are people here who love combustion engines... but that's old tech and will go the way of hobbyists.

There are way more benefits by going EV or alternative other than "green" reasons. Less noise, less maintenance and less worry about "drilling".

It's okay, just like computers, mobile phones and internet... people need time to adjust.

Spoken like man who has never driven an X5M

 

[morekaos]

I realize there are people here who love combustion engines... but that's old tech and will go the way of hobbyists.

There are way more benefits by going EV or alternative other than "green" reasons. Less noise, less maintenance and less worry about "drilling".

It's okay, just like computers, mobile phones and internet... people need time to adjust.

That really is crazy talk...I re-iterate the reality of our world....

EVs still account for less than one percent of the 276 million registered vehicles in the U.S. Of all the EVs on U.S. roads, about 42 percent of them are in California.

By contrast, states like South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming each have less than 1,000 registered EVs. Furthermore, in 2020, fewer than 300,000 EVs were sold in the U.S.

For comparison, Ford Motor Company sold nearly 800,000 F-series pickup trucks last year.

I also highlighted the myriad supply-chain problems with EVs. Citing work done by the Natural History Museum in London, I said that electrifying half of the U.S. motor vehicle fleet would require in rough terms:

* 9 times the world?s current cobalt production
* 4 times global neodymium output
* 3 times global lithium production
* 2 times world copper production

Oil?s dominance in transportation is largely due to its high energy density. That density and improvements in internal combustion engines and hybrids assure that oil will be fueling transport for decades to come.

Powerful lobby groups want Congress to spend billions on electrification schemes that will impose regressive taxes on low-income Americans, reduce our resilience, and increase reliance on China. That?s a dubious trifecta..

The average household income for EV buyers is about $140,000. That?s roughly two times the U.S. average. And yet, federal EV tax credits force low- and middle-income taxpayers to subsidize the Benz and Beemer crowd.

* Lower-income Americans are facing huge electric rate increases for grid upgrades to accommodate EVs even though they will probably never own one.

* This month, the California Energy Commission estimated the state will need 1.3 million new public EV chargers by 2030. The likely cost to ratepayers: about $13 billion.

* Meanwhile, blackouts are almost certain this summer and electricity prices are ?absolutely exploding.? California?s electricity prices went up by 7.5 percent last year and they will likely rise another 40 percent by 2030. This, in a state with the highest poverty rate and largest Latino population in America. How is racial justice or social equity being served by such regressive policies?

* I also talked about resilience, saying ?Electrifying everything is the opposite of anti-fragile. Electrifying transportation will put more of our energy eggs in one basket. It will make the grid an even-bigger target for terrorists, cyberthieves, or bad actors. It will reduce resilience and reliability in case of a prolonged grid failure due to natural disaster, equipment failure, or human error.?
https://principia-scientific.com/electric-vehicles-on-collision-course-with-reality/

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I realize there are people here who love combustion engines... but that's old tech and will go the way of hobbyists.

There are way more benefits by going EV or alternative other than "green" reasons. Less noise, less maintenance and less worry about "drilling".

It's okay, just like computers, mobile phones and internet... people need time to adjust.

Spoken like man who has never driven an X5M

Try a Plaid... or even one of the Porsche EVs.

Instant electric torque is amazing... and stealthy.

I used to love noisy cars (even changed my exhaust/muffler to get more sound many lives ago)... but the quietness of an EV is so good... and one-pedal driving is almost like having a stickshift again.

 

[Kenkoko]

Try a Plaid... or even one of the Porsche EVs.

Instant electric torque is amazing... and stealthy.

I test drove the model S Plaid for the first time this past weekend and the acceleration is just insane.

Also drove the Porsche Taycan 4S. It is very nice, but just completely got smoked by the Plaid. It was not even close.

The Plaid was so insanely fast, it beat out the fastest Porcshe Taycan Turbo S easily too.

 

[morekaos]

At $90,000-$150,000.00 msrp what do the rest of us drive? ;D >

 

[irvinehomeowner]

At $90,000-$150,000.00 msrp what do the rest of us drive? ;D >

See... out of touch morekaos.

EVs start under $40k now and with the guvmnt $7500k credit for most non-Tesla models + CA rebates... you're looking at $30k.

 

[Kenkoko]

At $90,000-$150,000.00 msrp what do the rest of us drive? ;D >

There are plenty of EVs in the 40-50k range now. Model 3, Mach-E, Kona, Ionic 5, ID4, EV6 etc

And there's 10k incentive combined on most EVs (state tax rebate + federal tax credit)

If you also factoring in the lower cost of ownership over 5/7 years, it's not that much more expensive than a Toyota Camry

 

[morekaos]

At $90,000-$150,000.00 msrp what do the rest of us drive? ;D >

See... out of touch morekaos.

EVs start under $40k now and with the guvmnt $7500k credit for most non-Tesla models + CA rebates... you're looking at $30k.

Model S Plaids have an msrp of  $90-$150k.

 

[nosuchreality]

I have an EV I adore for the convenience, economy, etc.  purchase price stunk, but that is steadily getting better.

It fulfills 99.9% of our families driving trips.  It also fulfills about 90% of our annual miles.

That?s the rub.  If forced to go to one vehicle, those 10% of miles and 0.1% of trips, financially wreck the cost proposition of the EV for us. 

To go solo EV, I?d need a rated 500 mile range EV.  With real world driving would probably give me the the real 400 range I need without lengthy stops to refuel.

Or I need reliable holiday peak travel stops to recharge in 20 minutes to add 200+ miles of range.  Without traffic, 200 miles is 3 hours of driving.  Usually a quick bio break, but no need for lengthy stops.

Alternatively, I need reliable, expedient and cost proportional access to a gas road trip vehicle.  Last time I checked, all three of those are coming up short.

 

[usctrojancpa]

I realize there are people here who love combustion engines... but that's old tech and will go the way of hobbyists.

There are way more benefits by going EV or alternative other than "green" reasons. Less noise, less maintenance and less worry about "drilling".

It's okay, just like computers, mobile phones and internet... people need time to adjust.

Spoken like man who has never driven an X5M

Or a Macan GTS.  haha