Petrol prices
 

Couldn't help but be a bit bemused today. After a week away I went to fill the car up. On stopping at the garage on the Accy roundabout (near Homebase) I saw a placard on the forecourt. The placard read " Cheap prices for petrol and diesel" (or something along those lines) It was standing right next to pump number 1. I instinctively looked up at the price signs to find that petrol is 82.9 pence per litre. This has gone up a penny since I've been away.
I had to wonder if all the garages in Accy have put there prices up more and therefore 82.9 pence per litre is cheap.... I would've driven round to have a look but have temporarily been beaten to submission by a pile of laundry resmbling Mt Fuji in my kitchen so I haven't had time.
Even if by some remote possibility all the Accy garages have raised their prices more, 82.9 pence per litre is certainly not cheap. It was about 50 pence per litre where I've just been. I would've commented about the sign when I went to pay for my petrol but the cashier was rushed off her feet and as it's not her fault so I felt sorry for her. Was biting my tongue though..:)

Re: Petrol prices
 

If you don't like paying for petrol,I suggest you get yourself a bicycle.

Re: Petrol prices
 

Make the most of it while you can Lettie, it is only going to get more expensive. We are rapidly approaching the point of Peak Production, fifteen to twenty years ahead of expectation. Once that point is reached, then demand becomes greater than supply and the price will inevitably go through the roof.

Re: Petrol prices
 

One easy way out lettie is LPG. Well it is for the time being, untill the government hike up the tax on it..

Re: Petrol prices
 

I was in France on Saturday and the petrol prices are 10% less than in Germany (currently about 79p per litre). In the Czech Republic petrol is about 58p a litre, In Austria about 75p, in Poland about 55p!.

The German prediction is for prices to rise to about £1.80p a litre by the begining of next year!! and £1.45 of that is pure tax! No wonder the Government does nothing about the price...they get more tax income!!!!!!! :mad: :mad:

Re: Petrol prices
 

:confused: so most high price is tax or because there isnt enough to go round? Seems like East Europe has enough and not so much tax. Are we runniong out?

Re: Petrol prices
 

I've been on LPG for nearly 5 years now. I pay 33.5p/litre and my big comfy Saab 9000 does 25mpg on it. As I do 120 miles a day commute to work and back this makes quite a difference to my fuel bill.

As for the goverment not incresing tax on it. There is a EU directive with 3/4 years left that stops our goverment increasing the tax on it any higher that what they put on petrol/diesel. Even then if it was to go too high people would start doing the dodgy and using standard propane bottles.( not dodgy if you pay the road fund license due on it).

Anyone for biodiesel?
Ian

Re: Petrol prices
 

ok, whats LPG?


I'm keeping my mouth shut! we're complaining over here cause it's just gone above 80c/litre which I think works out to about 30/35p. I do believe that saudi is increasing thier production but a lot of it does come down to the taxes that is slapped on it

Re: Petrol prices
 

I noticed on TV last night the news people were saying that China had doubled it's consumption of oil in the last four years, from 1.2 to 2.4 billion(?) barrels per year. how long can growth like that be sustained on the back of what is a finite resource?

I don't think it makes too much difference what level of taxation individual governments impose. Oil is now around $50 a barrel two years ago it was $35 dollars a barrel. That's somewhere round about a forty eight percent increase, in two years. The day is not far off when we will cease to be a net exporter of oil and the North Sea fields begin to dry up. We are already seeing this with natural gas. That is why British Gas is having to increase it's prices. That, and its own greed and stupidity, but that's another story.

If we had any sense at all we would all be flocking down to B & Q to buy as many solar panels as we could find.

Re: Petrol prices
 

Can solar panels drive a car?

Is it really this bad?

Re: Petrol prices
 

I agree with your assessment of the situation A-Bob, and I have said many times that Dubbya should have invested the money wasted in Iraq on finding a "new" economical renewable energy form. A sort of water driven combustion engine as an example, or an anti matter drive, both theoretically possible.

I have some solar panels in my own home, and they have a real reliability problem. This is mainly due to the re-charging of the battery. (solar power changed to electrical energy and stored in a battery - basically). Also you need a great deal of area of solar panels to create a viable power rating. Another nagging problem is the lamps themselves, and trying to buy a spare is another "great adventure", depending on voltage (normally 12V) and the wattage (normally as dim as a TOC-H lamp). :eek:

Unfortunately my main heating sources are electricity and oil fired heating. Fortunately I live in a forest, so there's plenty of wood around should I convert to a wood burning stove.

What the rest of the world will use in the future is a mystery to all politicians, and a secret to the major oil companies!

Meanwhile....keep paying the taxes so that Peter Britcliffe, Tony B'liar and his ilk can throw it away on crackpot schemes.

Re: Petrol prices
 

http://www.time.com/time/archive/pre...699412,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...678644,00.html

2 good articals that helps understand the price increase.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...607812,00.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...699412,00.html
and how we try to cope with prices at about 95p a gallon. ( current exchange rate $1.96 = I pound)

Re: Petrol prices
 

Only the last item is available the others require a subsription to Time. But that article alone points out that all the politicians are Nero's fiddling whilst the world burns oil!!

SUV's and gas guzzlers are no longer necessary. I have a new Merc E-class, 1746cc, 146 HP, and I get 42 mpg on a long run (we are full of Autobahns), and 32 mpg in town!. So it's not just size, it's efficiency. My engine is the most efficient that I've ever had.

Good article Bazf.

Re: Petrol prices
 

My car is a diesel and obviously is very economic - 140ish miles for a tenner. I'm sure there is a reason beyond that of people wanting better acceleration and the like but surely we could all drive diesels to alleviate the problem.

Re: Petrol prices
 

In the States, I think they pay something like 25p a litre, and are probably the world's biggest consumers.

No Government in this country is interested in finding a viable alternative unless they can tax it as heavily as petrol is taxed. As we all know, petrol, fags and boose are fair game for politicians wanting to raise a bit extra. You can give up smoking, you can give up drinking, but unless you walk everywhere and never buy anything, you have to pay for the petrol, whether your car, buses, or road haulage included in the cost of goods. Good, innit.