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Date:         Wed, 23 Apr 2008 16:14:33 -0700
Reply-To:     neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         neil N <musomuso@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Gas, milage, etc (was Air Engine)
Comments: To: BJ Feddish <bfeddish@netreach.net>
In-Reply-To:  <0af601c8a57b$a4fa80e0$0401a8c0@cspfr2>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

I saw an interesting programme on Nova last night. It provided insight, via the "Tappet Brothers" to green alternatives and general information about automotive technologies.

A few things stuck with me.

There is technology being developed in carbon fiber parts, aerodynamic design, weight reductions in vehicles, and research in things such as reducing friction in the infernal combustion engine, that could *really* make a gasoline car much more efficient. I'm not saying a more efficient gasoline driven vehicle is the only answer. It may be part of the answer. Regardless, my impression is that some, or most, of that technology and ideas, have been around for some time. Kinda pisses me off. Especially given that fact that SUV's and BIG HP engines are still being made for production cars. Ridiculous.

(says the man attempting to increase the HP of his Westy with an engine conversion! Actually it's a "win-win". Better fuel efficiency, reliability, lower emissions, and more HP out of the same displacement)

And......

How do the "shakers and movers" in the investment world, figure into the price of a barrel of oil?

I can't even begin to imagine how intensely linked the finances and politics are behind the price of a barrel of oil, but the programme mentioned above hit on that topic, and the impression I got, was that some investors, or rather the brokers and brokerage firms etc., have a large influence on the price of a barrel of oil.

Any insights on the investors/brokerage firms influence on oil prices anyone?

Neil.

On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 12:52 PM, BJ Feddish <bfeddish@netreach.net> wrote: > >> When they rationed gas in the '70's, we were forced to do just that, by > those long lines at the pump and limits of availability. Who was controlling > that at that time? Auto manufacturer's were required to sell down-sized > economy cars. The land-yachts were parked everywhere and you couldn't give > them away! We need to return to this method of limitations, to help fix the > mess we seem to have gotten ourselves into. << > > > Absolutely. > > The problems is when gas hit the equivalent of $3 a gallon back in '82 it > stopped right about there for about 20 years. Yes, VW, Toyota, Datsun, etc. > were making high mileage cars in the 70's and when gas got expensive people > were abandoning their American cars in droves and buying these gas sippers. > America tried to catch up with the Pinto, Chevette, Gremlin, and even trying > to "Desielfy" a gas engine with the Oldsmobile's. All were embarrassments. > I had a '65 bug and used to laugh my way past the gas stations. The problem > was gas stayed the same price up until pretty recently. So what happened? > The US car companies went back to making gas guzzlers and the Japanese and > German cars just improved performance and let their MPG start to slip. > Nobody cared about gas again. Had we headed down the same path we were > headed in '82 we'd all be getting 60 MPG right now. So what's going to > happen next? If gas continues to rise then more and more people will have to > abandon their SUV's and car companies will have to start offering cars we > want. If they had used the technology over the last 25 years to improve > mileage instead of performance we'd be in a better place. If gas prices > fall or stay the same over the next 10 years guess where we'll be? Well have > more US build "Hybrids" that get 19 MPG.


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