12.03.08 BUDGET UPDATE: Darling expected to delay 2p fuel duty rise
Late last night reports started to circulate that the Chancellor Alastair Darling was ready to back down over the proposed 2p increased in fuel duty. The BBC was the first to report the 11th-hour climbdown citing 'well placed sources', followed by the Telegraph online edition in the early hours of the morning. However, the expectation is that he will delay the 2p rise for 6 months, not scrap it completely.
With each week setting new price records, and motorists and businesses finding it increasingly difficult to afford fuel, it is imperative that Mr Darling doesn't just delay the 2p rise, but scraps it altogether. Motorists have had to suffer an 18.1p rise in the cost of fuel in the last year alone due to spiraling oil prices, but the treasury has in fact benefited from this.
The government adds another 17.5% in VAT on top of the basic cost of petrol and the fuel duty (which currently stands at 50.35p per litre), which means that for each litre of petrol we buy, the government coffers are 3.5p better off compared to this time last year. Each motorist now pays the government around £10 more per month than this time last year, just in VAT. Another rise is not needed, ever.
The Chancellor has been under increasing pressure from all angles over the fuel duty rise, originally planned and announced by Gordon Brown in his 2007 Budget Speech. At the time the measures were announced, a litre of unleaded cost just 88p. The price of unleaded today has reached an all time high – 106.2p.
The Chancellor is due to deliver the budget speech at 12.30pm today, which will reveal whether he has listened to motorists or not.
Do you think the Chancellor will delay the 2p duty rise? Should he scrap it altogether? We'll have a full update on how the budget will affect motorists as the budget unfolds.
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What a horribly biased tabloid article. While I appreciate this site is about getting the best for the petrol-greedy motorist, such blog posts only damage your reputation as a reputable source of information. Additionally, half of your site apparently promotes 'green' travel, the other half is up in arms over any form of taxation aimed at increasing use of these things. If this isn't hypocrisy, I don't know what is.
As you were only yesterday shouting about how offensive the increase was, I'm suprised you're not completing the tabloid pattern of patting yourselves on the back at how the government has listened to your campaign.
" is it a climbdown? " more like a pause but why have garages put the price up before the mini budget ( greedy garages ) because they know darling old boy isn't giving them the extra profit they wanted so they stuffed it up anyway so in reality the 2p has been added by the garages, gone are the days of petrol/diesel below £1.00 a litre which is what the gov.com have been aiming for ( the motorist is keeping this country in business ) by taxes and lets face it we are the most taxed providers to the gov.com
when diesel got to 80p a litre i started using vegetable oil.
back then it was 40p litre it only risen slowly compared to diesel to 52.3p litre when Derv was 97p litre.
then the government made it Legal to use Veg oil suddenly it hyped to 76p litre then almost instantly to 86p litre.
Asda and Tescos (my main supplier of veg oil (was the cheapest)) are hugely profiteering on veg oil they do not see it as a food stuff rather than a fuel now and are the gov getting a cut on this?
ladies and gents only the super rich will be able to afford to run a vehicle in the future.
the gov do not see a vehicle as an ESSENTIAL for modern day living they see it as a luxury.
and they would rather see those that work hard crammed on a bus like that of third world so it gives them an enourmous sense of power
AS they can drive home at lunch in the gas guzzling luxury vehicle while the rest of you in the work you knackers off doing an 8 hour shift and face two hours either side of it travelling.
this wouldn't happen in the rest of Europe they would riot
WHy Cant WE GET TOGETHER AND PROTEST IF THEN THE DONT LISTEN THEN RIOT.
i am sick to the back teeth of trying to make a decent start and get my self a decent career(aviation) but cant pay for it as everything is so bloody expensive to live in this country.
i am fed up of the privileged getting a stab at it but i cant.
sorry for ranting but the basics in life being expensive cause those that live on the breadline not being able to move forward
Our local Tesco garage put the price of their diesel up yesterday to 113.9 a litre. It has gone up by 4p in the last 2 weeks!!!! Something's got to be done. Here in Cornwall, public transport is non existent and people have no choice but to rely on their cars. We need another boycott!
It just goes to show. The fuel is being used as a political tool to keep people happy. Who ever wins the next elsections is surely going to put up the prices again.
So yes it should be scraped all together. You can not take money in the name of the environment (green) and do something else with it.
i think the tax rise should go ahead but the government needs to spend it on promoting renewable energy not just paying for ministers private chauffeur driven cars. I expect oil to go to $150 this year so stand by for more rises.
We have one of the most incompetent governments in history and Brown would claim to be Swampy's brother if he thought it would get him a few votes. I am not surprised that most people think it is another government grab for OUR money.
Our oil production is worth something like 2.5 billion a month so as it runs out our trade deficit will be another 2.5 billion a month out. This is without taking account of gas imports. We are up the creek.
Oil and gas production has peaked and will relentlessly decline. Whilst we need to quickly reduce our dependence on oil these taxes will just be seen as another grab on our money. What is needed is for a ban rather than just taxes which don't matter to those with their snouts in the trough or celebrity friends who are rich enough not to care about a few pence.
We need to:
Ban sales of new cars over 300 g/km with a three month period with a long term stated plan to reduce this further each year. Say 250 by the following year, then 200 the next and so on.
Impose a 55mph/90kmh speed limit.
Electrify all rail - do not order new diesel engines.
Stop expansion of airports and roads with immediate effect.
Simplify planning permission for renewable generators and encourage renewable generators.
For all new building ensure they are fully self sufficient for heating, e.g. insulated to German "PassivHaus" standards.
Apply a tax on electrical devices over their working life that is equal to the cost of offsetting the electricity/CO2 down to the level of A+ or A performing devices. This will encourage people to buy A class devices since now people often tend to just look at the initial price and others who have no interest in the running costs just the up-front costs e.g. landlords, builders.
Make all consumer goods have a 20 year life span and built to be easily repaired not thrown away.
Not all of us are rich. In fact, a lot of us are becoming poorer. As a poorly educated manual worker, I have the unenviable position of earning less than £10k p.a.
This affects where i live, what car i can afford and how much i can put in the tank to get me too and from work, where i shop and how far i have to go to work.
Late last year just after the petrol prices rose over the 102 pence per litre i started to feel the squeeze on my wallet and found myself driving slower and eking out as many miles per gallon on my ageing Ford as i possibly could.
Asking my boss for a pay rise was met with an absolute NO! In addition, at that time, i was only driving about 30 miles a day to and from work, but as my ageing, Ford was only averaging about 22miles per gallon in traffic. Better on a run, but in the Medway towns during rush hour a lot worse. (Why do they call it Rush hour? It takes longer than an hour and no one can rush anywhere!)
As petrol was about £5 a gallon, i found myself sticking in about £10 of petrol a day. Not much you say, but what with food shopping at the weekend plus all the other things that you need to do on the weekend when you live out in the sticks, you can safely say that petrol was costing me about £70 per week. That is over £3600 per year out of my £10000.
Then the company i worked for move to a bigger warehouse in Maidstone. Now i have almost a 60 mile round trip per day to do in the old car. More to my shock and horror, my fuel bill was up too. £10 each way! £20 a day! £100 a week! I only took home just under £200 per week, and it took me a full hour longer to get to work (and home again). Moreover, the wear and tear on the old Ford. Do not get me wrong, the car has never let me down it is a good car, but it was built in 1995. No rust well maintained, but still 13 years old and getting older and so was i.
Well it happened. One week i needed two tyres. By the time, i put the tyres on the car i had eaten in to my petrol money for the week and by the Wednesday I ran out of petrol and payday was Friday. I rang work asking for a little help and the Boss told me No! Therefore, i took the rest of the week off. Then the petrol went up to £105 pence per litre. I found myself not having enough to pay the rent, council tax, Food for the family and run the car.
I had to decide whether to put fuel in the wife and kids or the car! The car had to go. Looking around for a smaller cheaper car, i found that the small economical car was sort after and my old Ford was worthless. This fine Car that was loaded with everything and working fine was worthless. The rise in Petrol had driven me into a cul-de-sac.
I could no longer afford to go to work unless i found a job closer. I had time off work, looked for a new job closer, my boss got wind of it and now i am on Job Seekers allowance. You might say that the government and the increasing rise in petrol have cost me my job, and almost my home.
However, the funny thing is, now I'm not guzzling fuel in the tank like it's gone out of fashion, i can afford to eat!
I often wonder if the prime minister ever thinks about the little people like me. The poor people of the country. There must be many people like my family struggling to make ends meet! What is next for our smaller cities, congestion charging? Emission zone for the Medway towns? May be a big hike in fuel duty to drive the suckers off the road. I bet it's the raise in Road fund licence that will break the camel's back.
They say that they want to put cars off the road, but where I live, it takes the Bus over an hour to drive into town. I know this as i tested the public transport system the other day. I went from my village to my old works in Maidstone and back again. At the time of day that most of us are leaving for work there is no Bus from my Village, so a 14mile walk down a road that has killed or maimed 32 people in 6 years to the nearest Train Station then a crowed train after that a short walk and Bus.
If i went later and caught the bus, because of the time of day you cannot get a cheaper return ticket so the cost is £6 each way. In addition, the train journey, that was better at just under £5 return. The bus ride the other end was also costly at £4 each way. You can only get a cheap return ticket on a bus after 9am and before 4pm. Therefore, the cost of Travel each day by public transport was £25 per day. Did i mention that it took me two and half hours each way to do this journey? 5 hours travel time.
For some of us a car is essential and not a luxury, and if the Chancellor Alistair Darling gets to read this, then get, your head out of your backside and do something positive. If you insist on making us get new an efficient low polluting car that do more than 22MPG, then make them cheap enough to buy!
Someone like me on a wage of £10 p.a. cannot afford a new car, so only old gas burners are available to us.
Jim Dix.
If you haven't heard the term 'Peak Oil'; brace yourself as you'll be hearing it a lot more in the years to come. It's been a whispered term for many years, much like "global warming" was back in the 60's.
In 1956, geophysicist Dr. M. King Hubbert predicted that oil production in the USA would reach its peak around 1970 and then go into a state of decline. He also predicted that global oil production would peak around the late 90's/early 21st century. He plotted the increase, peak and decrease of oil production on a graph; and his theory is popularly known as Hubbert's Peak.
Dr Hubbert also flagged with the world the issue not only of declining oil production, but the increasing cost associated in extracting what oil remained after the "low hanging fruit" had been picked.
There is no doubt that the cost of oil production in recent times has been huge - not only in the exploration and production itself in financial terms; but also in terms of environmental damage caused. Added to that has been the huge military expense and associated human suffering caused through wars that have been pushed on the public by their governments as being issues of national safety rather than their true motivation - control of oil reserves. The war in Iraq is a classic example of that.
Dr Hubbert was ridiculed by many when he released his research; but his predictions appear to have come true. USA oil production did indeed go into rapid decline around 1971.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a cartel of countries whose members sit on around two-thirds of the world's oil reserves have been in a state of public denial about peak oil theory for many years; but that seems to have changed recently also.
In the November/December 2006 issue of OPEC's publication; "OPEC Bulletin", on page 62 is an article by Dr Shokri Ghanem, Chairman of the People?s Committee, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) of Libya; discussing not the "if" of peak oil occurring; but "when" and he acknowledges that we may already be in that timeframe.
Fact: we are consuming more oil globally and the trend will continue
Fact: it is not a renewable resource in relation to our consumption levels
Fact: countries go to war over control of oil reserves
Fact: oil consumption has a negative impact on the environment
Fact: gas at the pump continues to, generally speaking, increase in price
Fact: many plastics and other trappings of the modern world are made from oil
Fact: the world is running out of easily sourced oil; i.e. production using current technology has peaked, and what oil is left will cost more to pull out of the ground using methods most likely to be even more unfriendly to the environment.
Paints a rather grim picture for our oil addicted society doesn't it? If we're willing to invade a country now for oil, how much more aggressive will we be when supply really gets tight?
How does food get to your table? Do you grow it in your yard, or is it trucked in to your supermarket? How do you collect it; do you walk to the supermarket or drive? How do you get to work?
How many affordable alternative energy vehicles are now on the market?
When the Iraq war and other geo-political issues pushed the price of oil to record levels; people stopped buying SUV's. Within a couple of weeks of a drop in prices; they went back to buying them again. It just goes to show how little we learn. We had a taste of what really expensive gas was like, yet as soon as the pressure was backed off a little; we went straight back to our previous oil-greedy ways.
We won't learn, oil will have to run out or become so horribly expensive that only few can use it to any degree. What will it cost? How much will it impact on the cost of other items? How many more people will have to die and how much more will our environment suffer while we squeeze out the last viable drop of oil that the planet has to offer?
These are important issues to think about - don't rely on governments to provide the answers to a world without oil as they've all been in denial for way too long. Yes, there are renewable/alternative energy programs in place; but given the major role that oil plays in our lives; permeating just about every aspect; whether these new, cleaner technologies can be rolled out broadly before we hit the real crunch is something I'm not very confident of.
The time is now to start thinking about and making changes to the way you live so your life is not so oil-centered. Remember that a lack of oil extends far beyond just not being able to drive your car - so many other products, services and industries are based on oil.
Prepare for a life of austerity.
Find local employment. Reduce your debts. Reduce your fuel consumption. Grow your own vegetables or buy from local suppliers. Exercise regularly. Insulate your home. Help your family, friends and colleagues to understand the implications of Peak Oil.
I am really concerned, not only have petrol prices risen so much, the difference between diesel and petrol now reversed over last 3 yrs. Diesel was supposed to stay cheaper especially as all retailers have to use transport for deliveries. Meaning every single item purchased is increasing daily it seems at moment. As for Bio diesel not sure that is not helping the increase in food prices, rise dramatically. So the goverment is now really adding to the inflation. For all the poor souls out there who were already just getting by it must be dire. Already use my car as little as possible and try and do all i need to do in one journey. There is a limit for all of us as work, shopping etc. all requires mobility.
Is this how you amuse yourself Peakoil, copy pasting that boring tirade into every comments section. You really are rather over-opinionated aren't you
This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
No rise till october, then up 2p and 1/2p in 2010 for the tax
I'm interested in data about the price of fuel. I do not want to receive your poorly argued, anti-environment, anti-labour rants.
If you want a topic for your next blog item then how about suggesting where you would like the tax to be raised instead... pensioner's council tax, higher prescription charges...??
I fail to see how 'his' comments can be considered either anti-labour or anti-enviroment.
Anti-goverment, perhaps - and as for being anti-enviroment - please feel free to elaborate, as have seen little evidence that 'green tax' is used for anything other than filling a black hole.
My bets are it'll not stop atall, six months from now we'll be having a very similar blog.
I doubt the general public would question the need to pay taxes.
But it's the administration of the highest tax burden this country has ever seen and the incompetence with which it is being squandered that's now so clearly in the spotlight.
This was an undeniably thinly veiled desperate revenue generation budget, that is going to hurt everyone, proposed by a failing or perhaps even failed government.
Even the modern,obligatory, get out of jail free 'green taxes' didn't carry any weight or credibility and if this is one of the last incentive opportunities for this government to impress the public before an election .......boy are they in deep do do!
(ps, peakoil, I've noticed that nobody even bothers to respond to you anymore, bit beyond all that now I think)
Jim Dix: Your personal plight struck a chord with me, an emotional one. Although I have been on the dole myself and met at length with those on JSA and the other benefits, I am fortunate enough to have been given a shot at uni that my parents never had. I read posts like yours and wonder how many get by, not just with high prices, but a family too.
I'm something of a Scrooge, no family and my job pays fairly well. But I need my car, as where I work is not accessible by public transport. My little Fiesta does me well and just got MoT'd yesterday, though the tax is still £160, meaning room for improvement even if I can't afford a newer, more efficient vehicle.
I hope things work out, I truly do. However, rationally, this is just the beginning. The period where those not classed as rich still had plenty of disposable income for luxuries is at an end. Food shortages alone will guarantee that.
It's starting to get scary.
the price of fuel is unfair why don't they give us some funding to change to bettercfuels like gas???
Jim Dix (post #7) like Kellerman (post #17) I hope things work out for you. You ask if "prime minister ever thinks about the little people like me", Gordon Clown and the others up the greasy pole don't really care. Gordon Clown and most of the others would claim to be Swampy's brother if he thought it would get him any green votes.
Unfortunately fuel is not going to get any cheaper but vastly more expensive. Remember it is only a year ago that oil was $50 a barrel, today its more than double.
I know people don't want to hear this but that doesn't make it any less true. The usual first reaction to bad news is denial and that is where most people are. Either that or in groupthink, when the lemmings are charging over the cliff they don't stop to think - everyone else is doing it so how can it be wrong?
It is time that people in this country started to stand up for themselves, for years now we have been screwed by every government that has been in office, and the longer we sit back and let it happen the more we will get screwed, time to wake up me thinks, how about 20 million people decending onto London parking their cars on the M25, walk the rest of the way in and block the whole of the capital up protest and protest some more stop paying taxes and stand up for yourselves and stop complaining, do somehting about it, start a war or a riot, go out with style turn the tables on the government, fight back and stop being weak, let the revelution begin, it is time to take back what is ours, there are not enough troops in this country to bring in martial law, the police are weak in numbers, so who is going to be the winners, we are if we get off our backsides and do something constructive and start taking back what is ours, and whilst we are at it, get rid of them that don't belong here, send um back home! I have had enough of the spineless gits who run this country, the whole dam lot of them anyone want to join my war? I can only pay you with Oil and more Oil, oh we will steal that from some other country like Iran or Irac so don't worry about the cost, then we will lie to the people and tell them that there were weapons of mass destruction, go on we will get away with it!
PEAK OIL - DON'T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT.
"There is little doubt that crude oil is our world's 'master domino': when it thrives, all other dominoes flourish, and when it tumbles, it does topple all of the others too." - Dr. Ali Bakhtiari (Former Director at the National Iranian Oil Co. of Tehran).
"Previous energy transitions were gradual and evolutionary. Oil peaking will be abrupt and revolutionary." - U.S. Department of Energy (March 2005 Report).
"The basic, fundamental building block of the world economy is in danger of becoming extremely scarce." - Richard Cheney (Vice President of the United States).
"The doubling of oil prices in the past couple of years is not an anomaly, but a picture of the future. Peak oil is at hand." - US Army Corps Of Engineers (September 2005 Report).
"The peak oil scenarios portrayed are absolutely not alarmist; they're realistic." - Robert Gates (former Director of the CIA).
"What people need to hear loud and clear is that we're running out of energy in America." - George W. Bush (President, Unites States).
"I continue to believe that the American consumer is the weak link in the global daisy chain. The combination of rising long-term interest rates and higher oil prices puts an unmistakable squeeze on discretionary income .... the last thing overly indebted, savings-short US consumers need." - Stephen Roach (Managing Director and Chief Economist at Morgan Stanley).
"The end of the fossil hydrocarbons scenario is not a doom and gloom picture painted by pessimistic end of the world prophets, but a view of scarcity in the coming years and decades that must be taken seriously." - Deutsche Bank (Energy Prospects After The Petroleum Age - 2004 Report).
ARE RESOURCE WARS COMING?
"So where is this oil going to come from? The Middle East is where the prize ultimately lies." - Richard Cheney (1999 Speech To The Institute Of Petroleum).
"In World War II, the United States consumed about a gallon of fuel per soldier per day. In the 1990-91 Persian Gulf War, about 4 gallons of fuel per soldier was consumed per day. In 2006, the US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan burned about 16 gallons of fuel per soldier on average per day." - U.S. Department Of Defence (2007 Report).
"We can do a better job in conservation, but we darn sure have to do a better job of finding more supply." - George W. Bush (President, United States Of America).
"The great nations just aren't throwing enough money at the problem. Instead, they are preparing to fight for the last drops of oil." - London Times (2005).
"Energy consumption is indispensable to our standard of living and a necessity for the Army to carry out its mission. However, current trends are not sustainable. The impact of excessive, unsustainable energy consumption may undermine the very culture and activities it supports." - U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers (September 2005 Report).
"Oil is unique because it is so strategic in nature. We are not talking about soapflakes or leisurewear ... the Gulf War was a reflection of that reality." - Richard Cheney (Vice President of the United States).
"I fear we're going to be at war for decades, not years; Ultimately we will win it, but one major component of that war is oil." - James Woolsey (Former Director of the CIA).
"The amount of energy is finite, up to now in relation to demand and competition for access to energy can become the life and death for many societies." - Henry Kissinger (Financial Times Article - Kissinger Warns Of Energy Conflict).
"Given the thermodynamic deficiencies of the alternatives to oil, the complexity of a large scale switch to these new sources of energy, and the wrenching economic and social effects of a declining energy supply, you can see why our leaders view force as the only viable way to deal with the coming crisis." - Matt Savinar (Founder of the 'LifeAfterTheOilCrash' web site)
WHAT ARE THE EXPERTS SAYING?
"The consequences (if true) would be unimaginable. Permanent fuel shortages would tip the world into a generations-long economic depression. Millions would lose their jobs as industry implodes. Farm tractors would be idled for lack of fuel, triggering massive famines. Energy wars would flare. And car-less suburbanites would trudge to their nearest big-box stores--not to buy Chinese-made clothing transported cheaply across the globe, but to scavenge glass and copper wire from abandoned buildings." - Chicago Tribune (Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Paul Salopek).
"I continue to believe that the American consumer is the weak link in the global daisy chain. The combination of rising long-term interest rates and higher oil prices puts an unmistakable squeeze on discretionary income ... the last thing overly indebted, savings-short US consumers need." - Stephen Roach (Managing Director and Chief Economist at Morgan Stanley).
"The world has never faced a problem like peak oil. Without massive mitigation more than a decade before the fact, the problem will be pervasive and will not be temporary." - U.S. Department of Energy (March 2005 Report).
"If the peak comes and we can't get our act together fast enough to make up for it, you will end up with people all over the world burning coal as fast as they can just for the space heating and primitive industry. Such a large scale switch to coal could produce global warming so severe that life on planet Earth would cease to exist." - Dr. David Goodstein (Professor of Physics at Caltech).
"The American people are going to pay a terrible price for not having had an energy strategy." - Robert Gates (Former Director of the CIA).
"Globalisation makes it impossible for modern societies to collapse in isolation. Any society in turmoil today, no matter how remote, can cause problems for prosperous societies on other continents." - Jared Diamond (Prize winning author of 'Guns, Germs and Steel').
"The medical profession must eventually be forced to consider whether in an age of fuel scarcity it will be possible to maintain at their present level hospital procedures consuming large quantities of energy." - J.A. Lorraine (Author of 'Medicine and the Energy Crisis').
"Petroleum impacts medical care at every level. Advanced technology is worthless without the energy to run it." - Burt Kline (Former Director of the Division of Energy Policy of the U.S. Health Resources Administration).
"The United States must start now to respond to peaking global oil production to offset adverse economic and national security impacts." - U.S. Department of Energy (March 2004).
"Nevertheless, even with greater efficiency, the total amount of energy used by 2030 will have increased by almost two-thirds." - Rex Tillerson (President of ExxonMobil).
"I fear we're going to be at war for decades, not years... Ultimately we will win it, but one major component of that war is oil". - James Woolsey (Former Director of the CIA).
SCIENCE CAN SAVE US - RIGHT?
"The notion that massive 'free lunches' in energy efficiency will result from tweaking the market with new regulations and standards, he said, is misguided". - Dr. Robert Stavins (Environmental Economist - Harvard University).
"In the United States, annual federal spending for all energy research and development - not just the research aimed at climate-friendly technologies - is less than half what it was a quarter-century ago. It has sunk to $3 billion a year in 2006, down from $7.7 billion in 1979." - New York Times (October 2006).
"The laws of physics mean the hydrogen economy will always be an energy sink. No matter how much money is spent you will always use more energy to create, store, and transport hydrogen than you will ever get out of it." - Alice Friedemann (Author of 'The Hydrogen Economy - Energy and Economic Black Hole').
"It would take every single one of California's 13,000 wind turbines operating at 100% capacity (they usually operate at about 30%) all at the same time to generate as much electricity as a single 555-megawatt natural gas fired power plant." - Paul Driessen (Canada Free Press).
"The basic problem of hydrogen fuel cells is that the second law of thermodynamics dictates that we will always have to expend more energy deriving the hydrogen than we will receive from the usage of that hydrogen. The common misconception is that hydrogen fuel cells are an alternative energy source when they are not." - Michael Ruppert (Founder and Editor of 'From The Wilderness').
"I think what people don't understand about hydrogen is that it is not a source of energy. You have to use energy to make hydrogen and it takes the equivalent of six gallons of gasoline to make enough hydrogen to replace one gallon of gasoline." - Dr. David Goodstein (Professor of Physics at Caltech).
"Nuclear is an alternative, but remember you're not going to have any nuclear cars and nuclear airplanes. Nuclear is not a substitute for oil." - Dr. David Goodstein (Professor of Physics at Caltech).
"There is no battery pack which can effectively move heavy farm machinery over miles of farm fields, and no electric battery system seems even remotely able to propel a Boeing 747 for 14 hours nonstop at 600 miles an hour." - Dr. Walter Youngquist (Geologist).
"Relying on corn for our future energy needs would devastate the nation's food production. It takes 11 acres to grow enough corn to fuel one automobile with ethanol for 10,000 miles, or about a year's driving. That's the amount of land needed to feed seven persons for the same period of time. And if we decided to power all of our automobiles with ethanol, we would need to cover 97 percent of our land with corn. That's a lot of corn." - Dr. David Pimental (Chairman - U.S. Department of Energy - Commitee on Ethanol).
HOW MUCH OIL IS LEFT?
"The basic, fundamental building block of the world economy is in danger of becoming extremely scarce". - Richard Cheney (Vice President of the Unites States).
"The world has now reached the point of Peak Oil. After nearly 150 years of uninterrupted supply growth crude oil production has peaked and has entered its irreversible decline." - Dr. Ali Bakhtiari (Former Director at the National Iranian Oil Co. of Tehran).
"All the easy oil and gas in the world has pretty much been found. Now comes the harder work in finding and producing oil from more challenging environments and work areas." - William Cummings (ExxonMobil Spokesman in Angola).
The most knowledgeable experts revised their predictions and now concur that 2005 is apt to be the year of all-time global peak production." - James Howard Kunstler (Author of 'The Long Emergency').
"...there will be an average of two-percent annual growth in global oil demand over the years ahead, along with, conservatively, a three-percent natural decline in production from existing reserves. That means by 2010 we will need on the order of an additional 50 million barrels a day." - Richard Cheney (Vice President of the Unites States).
"The doubling of oil prices in the past couple of years is not an anomaly, but a picture of the future. Peak oil is at hand." - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (September 2005 Report).
"Nevertheless, even with greater efficiency, the total amount of energy used by 2030 will have increased by almost two-thirds." - Rex Tillerson (President of ExxonMobil).
PREPARE FOR A LIFE OF AUSTERITY.
Find local employment. Reduce your debts. Reduce your fuel consumption. Grow your own vegetables or buy from local suppliers. Exercise regularly. Insulate your home. Help your family, friends and colleagues to understand the implications of Peak Oil.
ACTION IS NEEDED NOW!
Myself and my wife don't earn alot and need some relief from having to count the pennies. We both need our cars to get to work. My wife work as a district nurse and I work from 2am in the morning where there is no public transport. So what are we supposed to do - BIKE!! - I don't think so.
It don't matter who we speak to about the cost of living but everyone is fed up having to pull in our belts to survive.
We need a fuel protest as soon as possible to show those in government we mean business and won't be dictated to.
I thought the 2p on fuel was to be delayed until October! How come then that all petrol stations seem to have already added 2p to the price?? Is this so that even more can be added come October? When is the demonstration, give us plenty of notice and Im sure people will turn up in force!!!
Brilliant peace of writing by matt Beasley.I totally agree with you.Could do with someone like you to start a FUEL PROTEST and i would come along.Anyway the Local elections are soon(MAY)and LABOUR will suffer with protest votes.
The situation won't change for good in the future... Thank you for posting
Jim Dix: I, like several others, hope that things work out for you too. Considering we are so close to London, our salary offers don't bear any resemblance do they?
I also live (and work) in the Medway Towns and know just what you mean about local transport - it's worse than useless. It's expensive and takes forever, if you are fortunate to be able to get a direct route anywhere - quite often you have to make changes.
I need to use my car to get to work or have to walk for an hour each way. I had to invest in a new car last month - my old gas guzzler was costing me a fortune so I have had to chop it in for a more efficient model. I have to say that the savings I am making on fuel between the two are brilliant, but I didn't want a loan now to get another car - it's just another burden to pay off and I am working just to pay the bills and the car now. When I get paid, I fill my car to the brim to last for the entire month - £60 in March and £66 last night - that's a heck of an increase in a month.
All the best to you Jim and fingers crossed for some good news for you!