Summer Driving

What do you mean... That high, or that low.

It's hard to figure out what sort of engineering advice to give for spot-market economics questions of this sort. This belongs way way down the hall in CR27.

CR27, thats for an argument. You want CR32 for economics, and if you go to CR33 you went too far, that's for complaints.

Is CR45 where the donuts and coffee are? I want some....

By the way, gas prices are coming back down (refineries have made the summer fuel switch-over, I suspect.

I say, "Drill baby drill", and "Drill here, drill now". By the way, other day I caught a news clip about protesters whining about a train derailment of oil tank cars (probably caused by yet another group of whacko anarchist left-wingers). Let me see, no pipeline from Canada, and now they don't want any oil to move by rail either. They should not leave out truckers. Hell, maybe we could line up all these whackos, and have an oil bucket brigade, and see which one burns baby burns first, or how much oil get wasted (spilled) on the ground. The loopers have no idea what they are wishing for. But I suspect back in the stone age would not be good enough for them.

I want my gasoline, damn it! I also want my cheap folding wing airplane (that does not fold up in flight!), and cheap aviation gas. And where is my flying car?

There will always be protesters for or against any topic you want. They pay reasonably well, too.

Forbidden page on the "they", I prefer to be paid by "them".

This "drill first, build later" attitude is BS.

Reminds me of a developer, years ago, who paid a million dollars for a piece of land zoned for 1 acre lots and then demanded that my city let him grossly violate housing density codes because "You don't understand" he said "If I don't get this variance, I won't make any money".

"You should have thought of that BEFORE you bought the land", said I.

He still built houses, he just didn't make millions on the deal like he wanted.

Anarchists aren't required to derail trains. The railroads do it all by themselves.

We had that, and depending on the size of city, or in our case town, people (developers) like this, on developing smaller towns rural areas. Would go to every town meeting and bring it up. And eventually it will pass.

That's where covenants and not zoning really started playing a big role.

What drill first, build later? Are we talking about needing to build new refineries? Build the Keystone pipeline? What? If we are talking about pipeline safety versus train safety, that should be a 'no brainer'. The problem is the folks with no brains making the most noise about everything.

My take on it: If you are not out there earning a living, the STFU. If you are earning a living, then why aren't you working instead of B**ching?

That is why America no longer computes. Why we are not the top of the heap. If everyone would just start pulling together, closing ranks, working in unison to make their immediate world better, then America would shine like a City on a Hill once again.

Ah yes. Free speech for only those who agree with one point of view. All disagreements will be stifled before anyone can notice.

"This is a line of Indians leaving Rancho Malaria, to make room for YOU. And here is the beautiful Trail of Tears Golf Course, conveniently located adjacent to the Custer Memorial Indian School and Cobalt Testing Range..."

(It's the whole skit. It will take some time to reach that quote. It's worth it if you never heard this group. I miss them. ) Let's eat!

WTFWT? That is about the current level of intelligence here in the Socialist Republic of America.

People can have all the free speech they want. Just not in front of a TV camera. Trump is one example of needing to STFU and fly right. If given a bitter pill, and a sh** pill, which one do you take?

I am ready any time Texas wants to really secede and start their own actual country, so I don't have to listen to all the crap any more.

If only they develop a car that runs on flatulence

That should not be all that difficult, ample supply of gas bags here and in Washington, C.D.

I would be tongue in cheek about this, but I would rather just stick my tongue and say, "I told you so, morons."

Here. Try this:

http://www.ceramatec.com/technology/top-ceramic-technologies/synthetic-fuel/modular-fischer-tropsch.php

Gas is $2.15-$2.50 USD in the Phoenix area.

Here in Port Macquarie Aus, we're paying AUD 1.36 per litre for unleaded.

Converting that to US dollars and US gallons, that's $3.86/gallon, a 65% premium on the average of your price range in Phoenix

How much oil is domestically produced in your country?

About 12,500 megalitres per annum of crude , but as we have very few working refineries here these days, we have to import a considerable amount, it is all priced on the Singapore crude market which is the most expensive - naturally.

Prices rise immediately the market rises but fall very slowly when the market drops.

Local prices jumped by 16 cents on Sunday night, and all outlets had the new pricing Monday morning.

Obviously no reflection on what they paid for what they were selling.

It's pretty much a duopoly here between Shell and Caltex, Mobil and BP are all but gone, and independents have huge trouble obtaining supplies.

We also export most of our large production of natural gas, and then the producers and Government try to convince us that we're running out and need fracking if we want to keep warm over Winter

How much oil does Australia produce on its own? How much oil comes in on tanker from the Indonesia corridor? From OPEC?

Why isn't Australia totally nuclear by now? I.e. convert electric power and seawater to liquid fuel by the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis (U.S Navy already has this available whether they use it or not, as a means of not requiring tender ships near carrier vessels in war zones). No brainer, once again.

Australia has other worries, no doubt being the most dangerous continent in the world for its spiders (two deadly bastards), snakes (brown and sea snakes), sharks, dragons (not really there, but largish monitor lizards), and kangaroos drowning dogs, and mauling folks here and there. Almost left off dingos.

Yes,... Other than the locals already there, It all started with a question. And that is, "Where is a good place to send our prisoners?"

the down under crowd are not wild about nuke powerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZUS

Oh well, then they will have their solar updraft power towers:

http://www.enviromission.com.au/EVM/content/home.html

I starting thinking about this concept for something in my area, about 15 years ago, but obviously, no takers. Now I am thinking this combines with Michaud's stabilized vortex, and "we" could build one of these far cheaper, no need to make the tall tower.

By the way, the Spaniards report that the environment under the canopy is something like a green house with excellent plant growing conditions in their pilot scale power updraft tower power plant.

its a thread about oil price,,,,,,,,,,,,,

...and we drifted over in Aussie boys not wanting nuke power, so yeah, gasoline it is. No skin off my nose if everything down under runs on Bunker C, or tires for that matter.

Add a bit of hydrogen from solar (or oil derived), and everything runs farther, cleaner, longer, and better.

Of course, right now they are talking about winter driving.

didn't a sea ray kill that nature guy with a barb to the heart?

Yes, he pestered the thing until it became annoyed. Rays look so cute from below, but I would not want to keep pestering one.

Yeah, botched that one post I did, good on you mate, for clearing that up. America is far more dangerous especially in Chicago where the large gun ban is in place.

We do have dogs here, wolves (have seen Lobo within 40 miles of Lubbock), coyotes, rabid foxes (long time since we've witnessed one by a vet here). Bats from Carlsbad Caverns make it here, and Austin has its own native bat population. Not to mention the batty residents.

We have rattlesnakes, copperheads, water moccasins, and people have let go their constrictor snake pets, pet alligators, and probably a few Nile monitors. The most dangerous animal by far in the coming years will be the disruptive, dangerous, and prolific feral hog. They can wreck a 1 ton truck easily.

As to nuclear energy: Your renewable energy schemes are in fact nuclear. It is just that the reactor is 93,000,000 miles away (on a good day), and will still scorch your hide. I myself am trying to learn more about nuclear and quantum processes that could play a role in LENR, since I have seen too many favorable reports, and learned about falsifications of work done by CIT and MIT that supposedly debunked the Fleischman and Pons work at University of Utah. I am almost done building my electrolysis cell now. Australia should look into some of the new molten salt reactor designs, as they do have a high intrinsic safety rating, and excellent means of containment upon loss of electric power. I like them. They can run on new fuel, or old "spent" fission fuel. They actually clean up and use up this stockpile of spent fuel rods just sitting around waiting for a catastrophe in water.

Molten salt storage of solar is already on the drawing board here.

Spanish solar company Abengoa is doing a feasibiity study on a 20 MW one for Western Australia.

It will use Heliostat technolgy developed by our CSIRO scientific body. This technology is now in use in various places around the world but, in keeping with our own reluctance to get involved in the good stuff, we haven't used it to any degree ourselves.

In 2014, the CSIRO made history at their Australian research Heliostat (not even sited in the hottest areas of the continent), recording the highest temperature -570°C - and pressure - 23.5MP ever reached using solar energy.

All we need now is the political will to make it happen, our upcoming election does not bode well for any party having the intestinal fortitude to proceed with the project.

Well, there is a difference between intestinal fortitude and intestinal fartitude.

CSIRO is a great research institute, no knocks for those blokes at all.

Texas Utilities was doing some CSP to augment production at one of their plants out near Pecos, TX (where Pecos Bill claimed his fame by roping a tornado). Their downfall was placing the solar collection field mirrors too near the cooling towers, and the drift mist from cooling towers essentially took down the project (output-wise at first, then literally took it down later).

I would strongly urge any group working in CSP to avoid a water-cooled situation UNLESS (AND):

Solar field can be placed at least 1 kilometer upwind to the prevailing side.

(AND) The stabilized vortex cooling tower design is to be used (will increase plant output by 30%)

(AND) high availability of no more than 2° Total Hardness on the German scale

(AND) system TDS is to be increased to the point that no mist droplet in the PM10 range can be produced. Contrary to the EPA-42 formula for PM10 emission, PM10 only increases with TDS up to a well-defined limit, then decreases sharply, and will highly saline waters, there is no droplet of mist that will be 10 micron or less. Droplets above that size do not transport in winds very well at all, or give rise to salt particles that drift easily in winds either. (At least with standard cooling tower fill material types.)

I don't think it is the pit bull's fault, the breed was corrupted from being an A-1 cow dog, to a pit fighting dog for wagers (illegally, I might add). Most of the attacks are the result of poor ownership/partnership characteristics, where the dog is abused, chained, caged, etc. with no socialization around other humans.

One business I frequent here in Lubbock has a large male pit bull behind the counter, I think his name is Alfred, is one of the nicest doggies I know. On the other hand, God help the poor fool that ever breaks into that business at night.

I would (almost) rather be attacked by full grown Nile monitors en masse' than a single full-grown male pit bull. At least with the lizards one has a sort of fighting chance, if they don't tear out too large chunks of flesh too early in the contest. A pit bull will take a man down, then its one bite to the neck, and lights out.