Gas going up again
03-14-07, 07:39 AM
#1
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Gas going up again
New regulations are forcing the price up about 10%.
Gasoline sold in the U.S. will have less benzene, a known human carcinogen, starting in 2011, under a rule announced by EPA on Feb. 9.
The rule also sets new standards for emissions from passenger cars and trucks and for evaporation from portable gas cans.
EPA says the new controls will significantly cut hazardous air pollutants—notably benzene but also 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, and naphthalene—that are emitted from vehicles. Cars and trucks are the major source of benzene in air, contributing 70% of the releases of this chemical nationwide in 1999, EPA notes.
The new rule limits the benzene content of gasoline to an annual refinery average of 0.62% by volume by 2011. Stricter limits on emissions of hydrocarbons from new passenger vehicles will be phased in from 2010 to 2015. Standards for portable gas cans will take effect in 2009.
EPA says the rule will cost an average of 0.27 cents per gal of gasoline, reflecting the average $14 million in capital investment needed at each refinery to reduce benzene levels in gasoline. The rule will add less than $1.00 to the cost of a new vehicle and less than $2.00 per gas can. According to the rule, reduced evaporation from gas cans due to the new standards "will result in fuel savings that will more than offset the increased cost" for the can.
Environmental activists, who sued EPA to issue the regulation after the agency missed statutory deadlines, are generally pleased with the rule, though they are troubled by one provision. The rule allows refineries that reduce their gasoline's benzene levels to below the new standard to sell "credits" to refineries that can't meet the limit. Environmental groups fear this will lead to uneven implementation of the rule across the nation, causing residents in some areas to be exposed to more benzene than residents in other areas.
"Having benzene levels go down in Newark, N.J., won't do much for the health of the people in Portland, Ore.," if credits from New Jersey companies get sold to Pacific Northwest refiners, says Emily Figdor of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
2007 Chemical & Engineering News
The rule also sets new standards for emissions from passenger cars and trucks and for evaporation from portable gas cans.
EPA says the new controls will significantly cut hazardous air pollutants—notably benzene but also 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein, and naphthalene—that are emitted from vehicles. Cars and trucks are the major source of benzene in air, contributing 70% of the releases of this chemical nationwide in 1999, EPA notes.
The new rule limits the benzene content of gasoline to an annual refinery average of 0.62% by volume by 2011. Stricter limits on emissions of hydrocarbons from new passenger vehicles will be phased in from 2010 to 2015. Standards for portable gas cans will take effect in 2009.
EPA says the rule will cost an average of 0.27 cents per gal of gasoline, reflecting the average $14 million in capital investment needed at each refinery to reduce benzene levels in gasoline. The rule will add less than $1.00 to the cost of a new vehicle and less than $2.00 per gas can. According to the rule, reduced evaporation from gas cans due to the new standards "will result in fuel savings that will more than offset the increased cost" for the can.
Environmental activists, who sued EPA to issue the regulation after the agency missed statutory deadlines, are generally pleased with the rule, though they are troubled by one provision. The rule allows refineries that reduce their gasoline's benzene levels to below the new standard to sell "credits" to refineries that can't meet the limit. Environmental groups fear this will lead to uneven implementation of the rule across the nation, causing residents in some areas to be exposed to more benzene than residents in other areas.
"Having benzene levels go down in Newark, N.J., won't do much for the health of the people in Portland, Ore.," if credits from New Jersey companies get sold to Pacific Northwest refiners, says Emily Figdor of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
2007 Chemical & Engineering News
03-14-07, 07:45 AM
#2
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I'm all for it. 
I'd love to see the prices jump to $4/gallon ++, and force a majority of the un-needed SUV's off the road. I can't wait to hear all the jobless, latte-sipping, air headed, empty-SUV-driving-soccer-mommies complaining about how they deserve low gas prices. 
I'd love to see the prices jump to $4/gallon ++, and force a majority of the un-needed SUV's off the road. I can't wait to hear all the jobless, latte-sipping, air headed, empty-SUV-driving-soccer-mommies complaining about how they deserve low gas prices.
03-14-07, 09:17 AM
#4
Lexus Test Driver
Word! I just love it when I'm commuting down the freeway when a woman in a giant Escalade drifts in and out of her lane in an attempt to check her makeup, talk on the phone, sip her mocha, and who knows what else. I don't honk though she might be startled into thinking she is actually driving also.
-tc
-tc
03-14-07, 09:25 AM
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Good point. It all goes on hubby's credit card, where the debit magically disappears forever. [blonde]I can't believe that all I have to do is swipe this plastic card in the reader, and they'll give me gas for free. I got this pair of $1000 shoes the same way over at Nieman Marcus.... for free![/blonde]
03-14-07, 10:49 AM
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03-14-07, 05:05 PM
#9
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Dodged the bullet last summer. A couple of miserable hurricanes and we will see $4.50 a gallon here in Cali this summer. At least it looks like Cali will eventually get the euro hi tech diesels in another year with MB appearing to be first.
03-14-07, 05:31 PM
#11
Where can I get one of those Fusion thingy's like on Back To The Future?! Might as well throw in a Fluxcapacitor. That way if I need gas, I can buy it in the past. 
Hey...wonder if the Toyota Development team were shown the LS460L or 600H back in '89 what would have happened.
Hey...wonder if the Toyota Development team were shown the LS460L or 600H back in '89 what would have happened.
03-14-07, 05:39 PM
#13
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It cost me exactly $70.00 to fill up my tank yesterday.. 20.5xx gallons @ 3.40 a pop.. ouch 
I can barely get 300 miles a tank too these days.. Thats like.. 24 cents a mile.. That means just driving to my 5 minute doctors appointment which was with a specialist 45 miles away cost me $21 bucks..
I can barely get 300 miles a tank too these days.. Thats like.. 24 cents a mile.. That means just driving to my 5 minute doctors appointment which was with a specialist 45 miles away cost me $21 bucks..
03-14-07, 05:56 PM
#14
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wow, i thought i had a big tank (17gal)
i usually hit 45$ fill ups at about 2.5-2.6 per gallon
this is actually one of the reasons im hesitating swapping in a 1j, i might have too much fun with it
i usually hit 45$ fill ups at about 2.5-2.6 per gallon
this is actually one of the reasons im hesitating swapping in a 1j, i might have too much fun with it
03-14-07, 07:34 PM
#15
The SC3 tank is only 17 gal? I assumed it was the same 21 that the SC4 was. Oh well. Both are larger than the Trans Am. It only has 15.5 gallons, I think. Of course, it'll still go just as far as the Lexus did on the highway, which is the majority of my driving these days.
Back to the topic. All things considered, I'm not too worried about it. If there is no typo, then it's less than a penny a gallon difference. If there is a typo and it's actually 27 cents a gallon, that's more significant, but nothing like what I expected to hear when I opened this thread.
Back to the topic. All things considered, I'm not too worried about it. If there is no typo, then it's less than a penny a gallon difference. If there is a typo and it's actually 27 cents a gallon, that's more significant, but nothing like what I expected to hear when I opened this thread.