So, is the petrol running out and stuff?

Edrof

Edrof

Edrof

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Just wanted to edit this OP to say that I didn't really mean this to be about 4x4 hatred - I just wrote it quickly (and badly!) and didn't read it back before posting. I meant it to be more of a "So I dislike gas-guzzlers because it's reported in the media that we're running out of petrol and so they seem very selfish. But is the media just scare-mongering as usual and should 4x4s be given a break?"

*****EDIT*****

So...I started to become rather annoyed at all the massive 'Chelsea tractors' that I see pootling around the place doing 1-inch-to-the-gallon; mainly because I thought: "How can you justify using up 5 times the amount of petrol for the same journey than sensible people do? All so you can feel superior."

Selfish people are everywhere and I can't help being idealistic (naive) and thinking how much better our society would be if people stopped being egomaniacs. Anyway, I digress.

Now, I haven't done any research into this oil malarky and so I pondered that perhaps the whole "We'll have no oil by 2020" and "Aargh: petrol where you going, dude?" type of 'news' headlines are all a load of rubbish and scare-mongering (like a lot of things in the news).

So what's the truth GD?
 
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It's gonna run out eventually, nobody can put a date on it - as there could be vast fields yet to be discovered, or there could be none at all.

Probably not in our lifetimes.
 
It is likely to become increasingly uneconomical to extract it. At some point it will become too expensive and alternatives will have to be sought, and at some point it will take more effort and energy to find it and dig it up than is actually generated by it.
 
Until the Whole Planets resources have been mapped out & evaluated we have No idea how long any of our resources will last, This is also made worse by the fact that Industry thrives by controlling demand & reaps the rewards of limiting supply to hike up prices.
 
What's all this about five times the fuel consumption and an inch. The diesel versions of the BMW X5 have a fuel consumption of around 38mpg. So you should join your hippie save the planet friends and jog on.
 
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Forde said:
Now, I haven't done any research into this oil malarky and so I pondered that perhaps the whole "We'll have no oil by 2020" and "Aargh: petrol where you going, dude?" type of 'news' headlines are all a load of rubbish and scare-mongering (like a lot of things in the news).
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The prediction wasn't that we'd run out of oil, but that we'd reach "peak oil" - that is: the rate of oil "production" would reach it's highest level and decline from there. Combine that with an increasing global demand for oil, and you have serious problems with availability.
 
I think the OP is addressing two issues here : fuel consumption (obvious) and people buying cars that are way above and beyond what they need them for.

I'm not going to potter around in a 500cc smart car. Bear in mind that alternative fuels exist, and more are approaching. Hydrogen fuel cells have been proved and tested, but there's so much money involved in petrol/diesel what's the point in making a big push for these alternative fuels until it's absolutely necessary?
 
DiscoDave said:
I think the OP is addressing two issues here : fuel consumption (obvious) and people buying cars that are way above and beyond what they need them for.

I'm not going to potter around in a 500cc smart car. Bear in mind that alternative fuels exist, and more are approaching. Hydrogen fuel cells have been proved and tested, but there's so much money involved in petrol/diesel what's the point in making a big push for these alternative fuels until it's absolutely necessary?
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Except the storage of hydrogen hasn't so your point about fuel cells is slightly moot.
 
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I'm not saying we should all drive around in the most efficient cars (although if oil is indeed finite, why wouldn't we want to strectch it out as much as possible?), I'm just saying what got me thinking about whether it was all scare-mongering by the press.

simulatorman said:
What's all this about five times the fuel consumption and an inch. The diesel versions of the BMW X5 have a fuel consumption of around 38mpg. So you should join your hippie save the planet friends and jog on.
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Yeah, because A) I mentioned the BMW X5 specifically and B) 1-inch-per-gallon figure wasn't a tongue-in-cheek figure at all.


Oh, and forget that hippie rubbish - it's too easy a label.
 
isn't there now more oil being found than ever before?

one thing i've often wondered, is when an oil tanker hits some rocks and there is an oil spill, is that oil then scrapped forever or does it seep back into the sea and become a part of the cycle all again? i have also thought how many other vessels run aground? does it happen a lot and we just don't hear about it because they aren't carrying oil?
 
Forde said:
I'm not saying we should all drive around in the most efficient cars (although if oil is indeed finite, why wouldn't we want to strectch it out as much as possible?), I'm just saying what got me thinking about whether it was all scare-mongering by the press.




Yeah, because A) I mentioned the BMW X5 specifically and B) 1-inch-per-gallon figure wasn't a tongue-in-cheek figure at all.


Oh, and forget that hippie rubbish - it's too easy a label.
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Phew my Mustang is quite economical then at 12mpg. :D

Andi.
 
The problem is car manufacturers will produce cars to meet demand, and the demand is such that people want their 4X4 to have a 5.0 V8 under the bonnet that does 10 MPG.

It winds me up too. A Range Rover, for example, is designed to be capable off-road and hugely convenient. It is not a sports car and never will be, there is no need whatsoever to have a V8 power-plant under the bonnet. They're starting to handle better than they used to but in reality the only strength such a combination has is straight line performance on the motorway.

One of the houses down the road has a 3.0 TD Range Rover and a V10 Audi R8. That is perfectly acceptable to me, it makes sense. The RR still retains the 'look at me I'm richer than you' image without drinking fuel at a rate of 15 MPG and the R8 is a proper sports car which rarely gets taken out.

I personally despise market intervention and as such I would never try to alter incentives or introduce ridiculous draconian Government policy, but you can't help but think if we all had a limit on the amount of fuel we could buy each week - I bet you would slowly see these disappear. The sort of people who can afford them can also afford a proper sports car to take out at the weekends, all they would do is substitute their daily gas guzzler for something more economical (like most sensible people do anyway).

I hate RR drivers anyway as I'm yet to see one without a personalized number plate (fits nicely with the look-at-me image) and from experience the drivers tend to be pricks :D
Also there's nothing special about them they're as common as muck and really not that expensive in the grand scheme of things.
 
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Market economics, that's what dictates fuel usage. As long as fuel is cheap for a group of people they will not be concerned about using it.

Fuel prices will go up when the product extraction becomes uneconomical. That has not happened yet and is not deemed to happen in the foreseeable future. At the same time technology advances and fuel usage is much more efficient, reducing the costs for the consumer.

All in all, it's a pointless debate. The only issue with fuel usage is whether you believe it destroys the environment or not to a level that is unsustainable. If you believe it does then you have a point to complaint about excessive usage of fuel, if not then carry on as normal. Having said that, vehicle fuel usage is not the top priority when it comes to reducing CO2 levels so again, you should look elsewhere for the culprits.
 
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