And that helps reduce the minority emmisions from regular persons cars, while the rich won’t even notice that their jet fuel is couple if thousand dollars more this year.
Energy has historically been much cheaper in the US than the rest of the world. I remember hearing somewhere that in cost per unit of gasoline the US is something like 30-40% cheaper than Europe. During this gasoline price spike and the last one, I did find a part of me hoping it would sustain so that lifestyles would adjust to be a bit less careless about fuel consumption.
What I’ve observed, living in a rural area of a rural state is that once gas prices get up to around $4 per gallon, people start making small changes to save fuel. If they have a gas gusling truck and a comparably more fuel efficient SUV they might drive the SUV more. Workplaces become more thoughtful about making their employees drive in unnecessarily. Car dealerships start advertising fuel efficiency rather than hauling capacity. People will think twice about extra trips out, or select closer trips.
Once the higher prices are sustained for a few months, I expect that super commuters will start recalculating if they can still afford their commute or need to change jobs. Folks in the market for a new vehicle may buy a more fuel efficient vehicle, and new lifestyles will bed in with a bit less driving for most people
Once the higher prices are sustained for a year or more is when I expect more noticable changes to take effect. Sales of fuel efficient vehicles will likely tick up, electric vehicle sales may also increase, solar panel installations will likely increase, and the most inefficient vehicles on the road will become a bit less common. This is the timeline I’ve observed and expect respectively for gas prices remaining around $4/gallon.
Now if they go really insane and get up to $6-8 per gallon average for over a year, that’s when I’d expect a big uptick in people choosing to go car-free or car-lite, I’d expect to see a lot of new companies starting up to try to capitalize on the demand created by the fuel crisis, and I’d expect established companies to begin investing in more R&D into more financially risky and exotic solutions that can be expected to save energy
100% with ya! But that’s only the consumer side. Higher prices aren’t going to retard commerce, business just has to suck it up.
Say what you will the Iran war has pushed many people and countries to renewable energy.
I honestly don’t completely understand the conservative agenda against renewable energy it allows independence at so many levels. Never have to see a gas pump again. Use the electricity from your house or a solar panel.
I honestly don’t completely understand the conservative agenda against renewable energy
Because they’re owned by the oil companies, simple as that.
This, 100%.
Trying to tie this to any aspect of conservative “ideology” is misguided, because conservatives don’t have a consistent ideology.
Genuine independence on an individual level is at odds with nationalism
But green energy represents independence on a national level as well, should be a no-brainer for any given ideology.
Comrade Trump has made public statements on the billions the US oil industry has profited during his reign.
UK here, I had solar panels and a battery installed. My electric bill has gone from being £100-£150 a month down to £20. And that’s with an electric car.
I fear if you tally up the environmental impact of war, which is more often than not the reason for the rising oil price, it may exceed the savings at the end consumer level.
Yeah I wish the price had gone up without the war, then it would have really been a benefit.
I would agree with you for every country besides America. In America, especially in states like Indiana, you’re completely dependent on gas because there’s no other way to get to your job. So it does nothing to stop car usage and only finanically cripples people who are already barely keeping their face above water.
What about EV’s? Is it a range issue? Makes me think why dont EV’s have solar panels slapped on them?
Because the w/m2 of a solar panel in optimal conditions (3-400W/m2) when applied to the area of a car is a rounding error compared to the energy consumption of the vehicle itself (5000-20000Wh), and those optimal numbers are degraded massively by the fact that the car can point any direction, and for aerodynamic and style reasons the panel will not have optimal angles even when pointed the right way. Best you could do is offset the 12V load to some degree.
There are cars with panels on the roof but just do the math. It’s a drop in the bucket, unless you live in the tropics and drive very little.
You still need the credit and money to acquire one.
Same is true about gas cars, no?
My diesel wagon cost me under 2k EUR. Point me to a similarly useful (no i-miev or leaf!) EV for under 10k?
Great that you found a reliable Diesel for 2k. However this thread is discussing Americans and their Reliance on private cars. They don’t Drive Diesel wagons and don’t pay in EUR.
