Gas Prices - Page 40

SpongeG · #**781** Posted **Jun 27, 2019, 6:17 AM**

Chevron on Boundary Road had gas at 129.9 around 9 pm and there were cars lined up into the streets, must have been 20 or more cars lining up for the cheap gas. Esso on north Road has dropped to 140.9

WestCoastEcho · #**782** Posted **Jun 27, 2019, 7:24 AM**

The Girard Point refinery in Philadelphia is not going to resume operations, and will close and be sold off:

https://globalnews.ca/news/5433202/o...rgy-solutions/

Quote:

The owner of the largest oil refinery complex on the East Coast is telling officials that it will close the facility after a fire last week set off explosions and damaged equipment there.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement Wednesday that Philadelphia Energy Solutions had informed him of its decision to shut down the facility in the next month. The more than 1,000 workers there will be impacted, the mayor said.

It’s unclear whether the closure might have any effect on oil prices.

A company spokeswoman had not responded to a request for comment Wednesday morning. The company also has recently struggled financially.

This is the biggest refinery on the US East Coast; this will have an impact on gas prices in North America.

WarrenC12 · #**783** Posted **Jun 27, 2019, 2:15 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

I'm more of the opinion that we need to be building hydro, wind and solar as fast as we can.

Any fission based power is going to be more expensive than the above working together.

Not to mention it's 20 years away if we start planning for it today. Site C shows me, more than anything, that these huge projects are painfully slow to get off the ground.

We're better off with smaller hydro. Solar and wind don't seem to require quite the construction effort and can be ready to generate power much sooner after citing and approvals.

WarrenC12 · #**784** Posted **Jun 27, 2019, 2:19 PM**

Power pricing in BC needs to be revamped. The 2 tier system is stupid if we are trying to get people to use more clean electricity for heating and transportation. I can't see too many homes not moving into Tier 2 levels if they are charging an EV. Definitely well into Tier 2 if they are running a heat pump and charging 1-2 EVs.

We need to move to TOU billing to take advantage of Hydro's generation and storage capabilities, and the cheap overnight rates from US baseload power.

aberdeen5698 · #**785** Posted **Jun 27, 2019, 8:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

It's higher than that. I maybe get 0.16 kWh/km on a Chevy Volt in the summer without A/C.

Is the Volt really that inefficient? I get summertime consumption of around 0.12 kWh/km or better with my Bolt, and that's with A/C.

Of course winter is another matter altogether, especially if I pamper myself with the heater.

Migrant_Coconut · #**786** Posted **Jun 27, 2019, 9:19 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Not to mention it's 20 years away if we start planning for it today. Site C shows me, more than anything, that these huge projects are painfully slow to get off the ground.

We're better off with smaller hydro. Solar and wind don't seem to require quite the construction effort and can be ready to generate power much sooner after citing and approvals.

Problem is that small-scale renewables cost nothing because they produce nothing - a Site C level of power requires a reservoir's worth of panels and/or turbines, and that's probably going to trigger just as many studies and reviews.

Geothermal sounds like a good bet, if nuclear's off the table and the seismic problems are really that negligible. BC's siting on as much as five terawatts' worth.

bluefox · #**787** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 12:52 AM**

According to his Twitter account, Dan McTeague is out at GasBuddy. Apparently is launching his own website around gas prices.

https://twitter.com/GasPriceWizard/s...682741760?s=19

VancouverOfTheFuture · #**788** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 12:55 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Geothermal sounds like a good bet, if nuclear's off the table and the seismic problems are really that negligible. BC's siting on as much as five terawatts' worth.

Geothermal probably wont be that popular. research is showing it is causing earthquakes the same as fracking is showing that.

so if you are against fracking due to the geological impact, geothermal has the same impact.

mcminsen · #**789** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 1:40 AM**

I saw $1.499 and $1.509 at three different gas stations along W. 41 Ave. today.

Trainguy · #**790** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 1:41 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpongeG

Chevron on Boundary Road had gas at 129.9 around 9 pm and there were cars lined up into the streets, must have been 20 or more cars lining up for the cheap gas. Esso on north Road has dropped to 140.9

Langley at 200th and 86th $126.9

Esso in Surrey 152nd and 104th $148.9

Makes no sense

Alex Mackinnon · #**791** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 2:42 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

Is the Volt really that inefficient? I get summertime consumption of around 0.12 kWh/km or better with my Bolt, and that's with A/C.

Of course winter is another matter altogether, especially if I pamper myself with the heater.

It's a bigger car car than the Bolt, and it weighs a surprising amount. Mine is also a 2012, so the state-of-the-art has probably moved on.

Lugging around a gas motor when you're not using it kind of sucks, but then again I've driven it about 2500 km in a weekend. It's a phenomenal road trip car.

WestCoastEcho · #**792** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 3:15 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

Geothermal probably wont be that popular. research is showing it is causing earthquakes the same as fracking is showing that.

so if you are against fracking due to the geological impact, geothermal has the same impact.

And the best locations for geothermal in BC are located nowhere near any of the major transmission lines, meaning that BC Hydro would have to string brand new high capacity transmission lines to the sites.

Also, geothermal has a very high upfront cost because of the costs to drill successful wells; there's a very real chance that the wells you drill will not be viable, meaning you have to drill more wells. Even then, if you are expecting a 50% success rate, you are looking at 11 possible sites across BC, with a total possible installed capacity of 634 MW.

This is equivalent to 6% of BC’s peak load and 8% of annual electricity demand, assuming a 90% annual capacity factor.

Again, that's a 50% success rate for well viability; it could actually be lower. That risk can be mitigated through extensive geological surveys and exploration wells, but that's an expensive prospect; exploration wells typically cost approximately $1M and many of these wells may be required. Confirmation wells typically cost $4 to $6M.

For comparison, a wind resource measurement campaign typically costs approximately $300,000; a fraction of the cost of drilling a single geothermal exploration well. The consequence is that up to 50% of the total development cost of a geothermal site must be incurred before the value of the resources is determined.

Also, good luck getting financing for geothermal; financing is typically not available until the risk of failure is relatively low. However, as noted, low levels of geothermal risk can only be achieved by reducing resource uncertainty, and this can only be achieved by drilling wells which require significant financing. It’s a bit of a Catch 22 situation here; no financing to do exploration to reduce risk, but you need to do significant amounts of prep work and exploration, but that costs a lot of money which you don't have.

Migrant_Coconut · #**793** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 4:19 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

Geothermal probably wont be that popular. research is showing it is causing earthquakes the same as fracking is showing that.

so if you are against fracking due to the geological impact, geothermal has the same impact.

As has been pointed out to me, said earthquakes trigger about 3-4 on the Richter scale. That's about as destabilizing as standing near a jackhammer.

Nah, the problem with fracking is NG getting into the water supply and making it flammable.

VancouverOfTheFuture · #**794** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 4:30 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

As has been pointed out to me, said earthquakes trigger about 3-4 on the Richter scale. That's about as destabilizing as standing near a jackhammer.

there has been cases of larger ones being caused by geothermal as well. sure the majority are minor, but this is still a new area of study and i wouldn't be so quick to jump on saying, "nahh, no problem." in reality, it is in its infancy.

humans have made mistakes before doing proper studies. plus, us being on the ring of fire doesn't help matters. we need to figure out if these minor quakes could causes something larger since we are on a fault line already.

WestCoastEcho · #**795** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 4:41 AM**

On the topic of natural gas; a natural gas power plant in California that's about 10 years is being shuttered:

https://arstechnica.com/information-...s-get-cheaper/

The reason? It doesn't play nice with the renewable energy sources that's coming online. The design of the power plant maximizes efficiency over flexibility, as the turbines take 15 hours to start up before they can put energy on the grid. As such, the plant was really designed to provide baseload, and could not respond to any changes in demand or supply quickly enough.

Migrant_Coconut · #**796** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 4:48 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture

there has been cases of larger ones being caused by geothermal as well. sure the majority are minor, but this is still a new area of study and i wouldn't be so quick to jump on saying, "nahh, no problem." in reality, it is in its infancy.

humans have made mistakes before doing proper studies. plus, us being on the ring of fire doesn't help matters. we need to figure out if these minor quakes could causes something larger since we are on a fault line already.

True, but so are Basel and Tuscany, and they've only had tremors. I'd be a lot more worried about the scientists who keep trying to get funding to drill into volcanoes...

WarrenC12 · #**797** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 1:25 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Problem is that small-scale renewables cost nothing because they produce nothing - a Site C level of power requires a reservoir's worth of panels and/or turbines, and that's probably going to trigger just as many studies and reviews.

Geothermal sounds like a good bet, if nuclear's off the table and the seismic problems are really that negligible. BC's siting on as much as five terawatts' worth.

I don't know what you're trying to say. Small scale renewables like rooftop solar and small scale wind can be deployed all over the place at the same time. They can come online quickly, and reduce the need for massive transmission lines and grid upgrades because they produce power close to where it is being used.

WarrenC12 · #**798** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 1:26 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Mackinnon

It's a bigger car car than the Bolt, and it weighs a surprising amount. Mine is also a 2012, so the state-of-the-art has probably moved on.

Lugging around a gas motor when you're not using it kind of sucks, but then again I've driven it about 2500 km in a weekend. It's a phenomenal road trip car.

The Volt was a cool concept and it's too bad GM discontinued it. I would have liked to see the technology move into minivans, trucks, large SUVs, etc.

aberdeen5698 · #**799** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 4:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

The Volt was a cool concept and it's too bad GM discontinued it. I would have liked to see the technology move into minivans, trucks, large SUVs, etc.

The Chrysler Pacifica minivan comes in a variant that is almost identical to the Volt concept. It's a plug-in hybrid with a 16kWh battery that can go around 50km on electricity alone, and unlike the Toyota (non-plug-in) hybrids it can deliver close to maximum power using just the electric drive.

VancouverOfTheFuture · #**800** Posted **Jun 28, 2019, 6:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

True, but so are Basel and Tuscany, and they've only had tremors. I'd be a lot more worried about the scientists who keep trying to get funding to drill into volcanoes...

the point i am trying to make is that we should be careful when looking at messing the the geology in an area known for earthquakes. Hydroelectric has worked in this province for over 100yrs whereas geothermal is proving that it might have more issues than thought.

i would rather us take a little longer to study the impacts longer than jump in head first before seeing whats under the surface. earthquakes can be very destructive.