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Highest and Cheapest Gasoline Prices by Country


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Diesel fuel does generate higher particulate matter pollution.  However one can also implement BIO-Diesel.  There is some awesome research in creating the fuel from algae and fungus.
 
Here in the USA, the state of California has always lead the nation in clean air regulations.  France and England can create new regulations on the vehicles to produce less harmful gases and particulates.  Not unlike what California mandated vs the rest of the US.
 
I am a strong proponent of Alcohol as a fuel.  However only if it is NOT generated from food stuff bio masses such as Corn.  Brazil leads the world in this and uses Sugar cane but I am sure researchers can find a plant, that humans do not consume as food, that can be grown and processed into alcohol.

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Just heard on the radio today that our area has the highest gas prices in the province of Quebec (if not Canada), and the reason for it is... gouging by retailers and distributors, more so here than anywhere else. We are far from large cities, have no political weight, etc...

 

Interesting reason why the prices have fallen, for those who haven't followed the story : Saudi Arabia doesn't like the recent surge in US Shale oil and natural gas production, which threatens Saudi production numbers. Because Saudi oil is much cheaper to produce than US oil, the plan is to run them out of business with low-low prices. Prices fall when Saudi Arabia (and other partners in the Middle East mostly) crank up production, flooding the global market with cheap oil.

 

Here in Canada, the price of diesel was lower than regular unleaded gas for years. It has been slightly higher now for some years, but still very close. So close that some car manufacturers offer diesel packages up here that you won't find in the US. I guess our interpretation of pollution from combustion engines - gas vs diesel - is different from others'. We are seeing more biodiesel variants now too. Canada, like some Northern European countries, has greater challenges with the prospect of going for electric cars because of the climate, mostly the heating requirements during cold winters and battery efficiency in the cold as well. Hybrids manage Ok, at least those tested and approved for cold winters that are sold up here. Full electrics don't have a chance, unless they equip them with natural gas or propane heaters. Heard news from a recent big auto show that hydrogen cells are gaining in popularity once again ; I predicted they were the future years ago, so I'm hoping to see more of them. A combustion engine that emits water vapour only, yess...

 

Alcohol : I'm not sure it can be manufactured without hurting the food supply, because sugar is the main ingredient and whatever is grown for it will take the place (crop square footage) of other essential foods/crops. And from what I've read, producing alcohol leaves a nasty environmental footprint... as well as having political importance in some areas where farming is vital. I'm not saying alcohol is a bad fuel, just saying it is a complicated one.

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Probably the same as other eco friendly fuels as the 'oil conglomerates' have such a hold on supply/demand that anything which upsets their profits is stopped by any means, unless it relies on their industry. Take Electric cars for example, that is not really taking off in the UK due to the fact that charging the cars is actually far more expensive than using conventional fuels.

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Alcohol : I'm not sure it can be manufactured without hurting the food supply, because sugar is the main ingredient and whatever is grown for it will take the place (crop square footage) of other essential foods/crops. And from what I've read, producing alcohol leaves a nasty environmental footprint... as well as having political importance in some areas where farming is vital. I'm not saying alcohol is a bad fuel, just saying it is a complicated one.

 

Grass Makes Better Ethanol than Corn Does

Cane

 

I don't think we have to use foodstuffs. 

 

 

filled up this morning at $1.73 US / gallon

 

 

On the news I saw a report from Clifton, NJ, where Regular Gas was $1.69 US / gallon.  But they didn't state if that that was for Cash or Credit.

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Probably the same as other eco friendly fuels as the 'oil conglomerates' have such a hold on supply/demand that anything which upsets their profits is stopped by any means, unless it relies on their industry. Take Electric cars for example, that is not really taking off in the UK due to the fact that charging the cars is actually far more expensive than using conventional fuels.

 

 

They say using electric cars generate zero pollution.  The fact is you are just shifting the pollution generation from the automobile to the Power Plant and if that Power Plant is coal generated electricity then it can be even worse.

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@David : just spent some time reading up on cellulosic ethanol (like switchgrass ethanol) vs starch ethanol (like corn or sugar cane based ethanol). Thanks for the link, very interesting stuff. They aren't ready to go into full scale production yet, but it shouldn't take too long to get there. Unless some powerful lobbies decide they don't like the idea :angry:

 

Cellulosic ethanol has many advantages over the starch based stuff : land not used for growing foods can be used for switchgrass, including land set aside for *resting*, so no threat to food land. It also costs much less to grow and transform grass into ethanol. Where starch ethanol requires natural gas for its transformation (quite a bit), switchgrass requires much less energy and some are saying it can use parts of the grass itself for combustion in the transformation process, parts not needed for the ethanol.

One paper I've read mentions that increased switchgrass growing would also have the added benefit of helping remove more CO2 from the air (photosynthesis).

 

When an engine runs on pure alcohol, it requires slightly more to achieve the same job as gasoline (roughly 1.25 to 1), but I'm sure we could get really cheap ethanol from this process, and more than enough to meet domestic demand. Bye-bye foreign oil. Sounds too good to be true. Uh-oh, it probably is then...

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Yes, Alcohol per volume generates less horse power and thus the fuel economy isn't as good.

 

I am not sure about "switchgrass" but I remember a report on a type of "sawgrass" which is a marsh plant.  Marshes are nature's filters and nurseries.  I can envisage fields of sawgrass that cleans river water and in turn is harvested for fuel.  Thus a better ecosystem balance and cellulosic ethanol is good at CO2 sequestration.

 

I use Isopropyl alcohol in cleaning electronics and preparing surfaces prior to adhesion and bonding.  In that role I prefer it over Ethyl and Methyl.

 

BTW, I think I'll consume some of Jack's Ethanol.   post-14644-0-72165200-1421548099.gif

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Ethanol definitely my fav :lol:

 

I'm also a fan of Isopropyl alcohol, to clean contacts (electronics), to remove not-so-stubborn glue/sticky stuff (I have more potent chemicals for tougher glues, like acetone and another which is a plastic-friendly remover). Isopropyl alcohol is also a decent household disinfectant ; for wounds I much prefer Chlorhexidine though. Methanol eats away at rubber, which we need to keep in mind ; for example, it is a good anti-freeze additive for gas or diesel, but never use it as a windshield washer booster because it will eat away at rubber hoses and wiper blades lol.

 

Ethanol is perceived to be a great human anti-freeze agent ; fact is it dilates tiny peripheral blood vessels which gives a sensation of warmth, while in fact it is accelerating heat loss through extremities. So the body anti-freeze works well inside where it is warm, not outside at 40 below :excl:

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