Alex_G

Popular Mechanics Gets It Wrong on Buick Hybrid

Dude,

On the Kwh, you multiplied instead of divided...


On Aug 10 01:45 PM lostark98 wrote:

> OK, so I knew that it would be next to impossible to find any definitive
> data on how much electric vs gas fuels cost to produce. And I'm no
> one you want to trust with numbers so I was hoping someone could
> point me to it!
>
> It isn't easy to determine the real costs of energy production. None
> of the companies break out all the numbers the same and allocations
> for investments are handled differently, for example. My rough cut
> is based on data from the Energy Information Administration website
> (www.eia.doe.gov) as best I can without losing my day job
> (using U.S. numbers from 2007 and 2008!)
>
> It costs roughly $.198/gallon to get the crude to the surface and
> another $.64/gallon to get a refined gasoline product. (These are
> very, very gross numbers!) For a car that gets 30 mpg that's about
> $.0279/mi.
>
> To produce 1 kW*h in the U.S.A. is roughly $.0548. For an EV that
> gets 4 mi/kW*h that's $.2192/mi.
>
> It costs a lot in fossil fuels to produce electricity (51% of the
> U.S. electricity is from coal.) That's why I think the ICE will continue
> to be popular until we produce cheap electricity.
>
> On Aug 10 10:43 AM Alex_G wrote:

Popular Mechanics Gets It Wrong on Buick Hybrid

Google, Bing, Yahoo will provide you with the answers you seek, my friend...


On Aug 10 09:19 AM lostark98 wrote:

> Has anyone done the math to see if electricity is really a cheaper
> (or more environmentally friendly) way than gasoline to power an
> automobile? What's the real total cost of producing the electricity
> needed to drive 100 miles vs the cost to produce the gasoline to
> drive the same distance? Just curious! If there is a link somewhere,
> please post.

Cheap Crude: A Flash in the (Oil) Pan

I hate to say it, and people will jump on me for it, but the obvious solution is to raise Federal gas and diesel taxes. A lot. This does 2 very important things:

1) Provides much needed money for mass transit and infrastucture projects and

2) Helps keep demand down in the US, which uses 25% of the worlds oil output, mostly for transportation, which will keep oil prices much lower than they would be otherwise.

I would much rather have the money flowing to the Treasury in the form of fuel taxes than to the middle east in the form of higher fuel prices.

Because this would be such a regressive tax, maybe we could use the extra tax money to stretch out the 15 and 25% tax rates.

Who Will Crack the CIGS Nut in Thin Film?

Bobby,

Panels that harvest energy with CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) cost far less to make and install, say backers. The material can be sprayed onto foil, plastic or glass or incorporated into cement and other building materials. Conceivably, the entire exterior of a house or building could become a solar generator.