FuelClub Discount

Last month the Wall Street Journal accused me of advocating subsidies for food-based ethanol. I ought to “take a vow of embarrassed silence,” it said, for claiming that ethanol’s contribution to the food crisis is “overblown.” The Journal’s claims would be laughable if the stakes were not so high.

Cellulosic biofuels offer a chance to have an environmentally meaningful impact on petroleum use while benefiting farmers, entrepreneurs and consumers. I have many investments in biofuels companies. Some say I believe in biofuels because I have invested in them. The truth is that I invest in biofuels because I believe they can help our environment, economy and national security.

Just as the word “drug” can refer to aspirin or cocaine, “biofuel” refers to a variety of products that vary dramatically in their environmental impact and effects on food prices. For instance, biodiesel from food oils such as soybean or palm oil has traditionally created environmental negatives. But corn ethanol has been a stepping stone to cellulosic ethanol, a preferred alternative that is likely to achieve unsubsidized market competitiveness with oil within a few years.
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Motorists in the UK have suffered from a far higher rise in petrol prices than their European neighbours, according to a report on Wednesday.

The cost of unleaded petrol has risen by 20 per cent in the UK over the last year, a far greater increase than across the Continent, where prices have risen by just 14 per cent.

In Italy and Germany prices have risen by less than 10 per cent.

The research by the Post Office Travel Services – which has stripped out the volatile effects of exchange rates - has led to accusations that British motorists have been left out of pocket by punative tax rises. Only Dutch motorists have to pay more tax than the British, according to the AA.
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Q: What is the dispute about?

A: Unite, the union representing 641 drivers, is claiming a 13 per cent rise. It says their pay - £32,000 a year - has not gone up since 1992 even though hours are longer. This is disputed by the employers who say drivers’ average earnings are £36,000.

Q: Who is involved in the dispute?

A: Unite is officially in dispute with two haulage companies, Hoyer UK and Suckling Transport but it says the real argument is with Shell. The union accuses the oil company of hiding behind its contractors. This is denied by Shell.
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Particulates in diesel exhaust are a substantial cause of the negative health effects traced to air pollution, above all in traffic environments. Diesel exhaust contains a number of extremely tiny particles about 1/10,000 mm in diameter, with chemical compounds bound to the surface that have been suggested to lie behind the ability of these particles to cause harmful health effects.

Individuals with lung or heart disease are especially vulnerable and are impacted most negatively during periods with high levels of air pollution. In his dissertation, Håkan Törnqvist studied the effects of diesel exhaust on healthy individuals and respective patient groups with chronic obstructive lung disease (COL) and coronary disease with atherosclerosis in the coronary artery.

The aim of the studies in the dissertation was to use controlled exposure studies to try to elucidate the mechanisms that explain why diesel exhaust particulates in polluted air cause increased morbidity in both lung and heart diseases. The studies were carried out in an exposure chamber, where the individuals were exposed for one hour to, respectively, diesel exhaust with a particulate concentration of about 300 µg/m3 and filtered air. The two exposures were in random order, so the individuals served as their own controls.
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I’ve suspected for a while that we were in a speculative bubble with respect to oil prices. Paul Krugman offers a good insight into the question. (When he’s not preoccupied with left-wing rants, he’s a pretty good economist.) He says:

… there are only two things you can do with the world’s oil production: consume it, or store it.

If the price is above the level at which the demand from end-users is equal to production, there’s an excess supply — and that supply has to be going into inventories. End of story. If oil isn’t building up in inventories, there can’t be a bubble in the spot price.
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As President George W. Bush arrives in Saudi Arabia today, his second to the Kingdom within the year, to formally commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the deep rooted, multifaceted Saudi-US relations, oil is reported to be very much up on his radar. Indeed with oil prices hovering around historic heights and talks of economic recession and stagflation in virtually every one’s dictionary, it would be naive to expect that when the leader of world’s largest oil consumer and the leader of the world’s largest exporter sit down for a face to face meeting, the issue would not be on agenda.

And the White House admits so. Spokeswoman Dana Perino told the press before the president embarked on his regional tour that President Bush will raise the issue of high oil prices and their negative economic impact when he visits Saudi Arabia today. Reports emanating from Washington very much emphasize that when the leaders of both the countries meet; George W. Bush would rake up the issue of boosting crude production further with his hosts.

It is understandable, the US leader, a former oil company executive, is especially eager to avoid spiraling oil prices in the months leading up to the November presidential election, which could scuttle presumptive Republican candidate John McCain’s hopes to succeed Bush in the White House.
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