Originally posted by: HumblePie
All this talk of gas economics. Everytime I hear it I hang my head in shame. If Ford and GM would release the patents on the engines they've designed or at least start releasing the engines, we would get some real gas economic engines. Did you guys know that those two companies own patents on engine designs for regular GAS ONLY that would start at 50+ mpg. I think the best design they hold is suppose to be around 80mpg. This isn't a "hybrid" or something like it. Just a regular engine design. Since they own the patents and keep anyone else in the ar industry from using their designs with legal power until they are ready to release it themselves, other companies have had to come up with more creative ways to release gas economical engines.
The funny thing is, these designs are decades old at least for the patent department. The car making companies of our country have been working with OPEC for years to create this exact economical situation to insure the price of oil. So how does having engines tat only consume 30 mpg or less help maintain oil prices? Supply and demand. You see, AMERICA is the only country in the world with a high oil demand. If you added up the entire oil consumption for the rest of the world and compared it against what America uses, it's so tiny a ratio it's not even a drop in the bucket for comparison. Also, OIL is much more prevelant then what you think it is. OPEC, like Debeers has a stranglehold monopoly on the worlds economy for their little product. Oil, like diamonds, isn't even a necessity as there are almost unlimited alternatives.
So how come the oil is the number one energy source for America. Easy, the deals worked with car manufacturers years ago to keep the DEMAND for oil high by making cars have to refill so often. If all cars 50 years ago were able to go 50 to 80 mpg and still push out major horse power the demand for oil would be next to nothing. Gas prices would still be around 60-90 cents a gallon. That doesn't jive well with an inflating world economy. OPEC would lose it's power structure base without its revenue and demand, other car manufacturers would find other alternatives and the demand for Ford and GM cars would drop to nothing. This almost happened in other ways when Ford and GM weren't paying attention to foreign made cars that were imported in. They never thought a foreign car could compete price wise with the importing costs and taxes with somehting made locally. However, that's another story.
Anyhow, the moral of my story is this. All cars SUCK. Ride the bus =P So the deal isn't hot to me. Not to mention car dealers and makers are all scamming con artists. The price to manufactuer any car and the normal overhead of 10-15% should have most cars costing on average between $8k-$15k in today's economy. Yet, the average cost of cars is $22k-$28k. Hrmm... I wonder why.
I don't even know where to begin to dissect this post. If we believe as the poster claims that these patents are owned by Ford and GM, then they can easily be viewed in the PTO (Patent Trademark Office) of the US government. Some other companies could then engineer around the patents like so often is done. I think the poster might have confused patents with trade secrets. Once you have a patent, it is on display for the entire world to see! You are trying to protect your idea but as a result you are also opening it up for inspection as well.
Another issue with patents is they have limited life span of protection; typically 20 years. So if I believe the poster?s statement of ?The funny thing is, these designs are decades old at least for the patent department?, then these patents are now expired and anyone can use them without paying any sort of licensing or royalty fees to the inventors.
The poster is also incorrect when he says ?You see, AMERICA is the only country in the world with a high oil demand. If you added up the entire oil consumption for the rest of the world and compared it against what America uses, it's so tiny a ratio it's not even a drop in the bucket for comparison?. This is so absurd as to be laughable. China now outstrips the US in rising demand for oil. China also out consumes the US in almost every area with the exception of buying automobiles. Oil is not just used to fuel cars and buses. Oil is used in the manufacturing of many products such as plastics. Vehicle usage of oil is only about 25% of the usage of oil. So regardless of what we do or how we conserve oil with our cars, the prices will continue to rise due to China?s rising demands for oil!
Secondly OPEC does not have a stranglehold on the oil but they were smart enough to band together. We (the US) have vast oil reserves but choose not to utilize them?yet. I do agree with the poster that oil is more common than people think. Russia has vast reserves as well (they have lots of diamonds too).
Problem with oil is there is not a lot of alternatives as the poster indicates. Oil is used for lubricants, power production, manufacturing, etc. For fuel in vehicles we could use bio-diesel, peanut oil (first diesel ran on peanut oil) or electricity for example. BUT?how are you going to make the electricity without polluting the earth or cause other major issue that people want to complain about. Wind can work but people complain about all the birds that are killed because the fly into the blades plus you have to have steady winds in your area. Europe uses it to some extent and so does the US but it is not a great alternative. Geo-thermal could work in some areas. Hydro-electric but people complain about the dams and all the fish killed in the turbines. Coal can be used to fuel electric plants but it takes a lot of work and coal is not an infinite resource. Solar energy is an option but not very efficient solar cells yet to make this practical. Nuclear energy which America seems to hate but of course you have waste issues. Like it or not, oil will be important for quite some time as the other options have some major drawbacks or not even remotely cost-effective yet. I didn't want to go into huge detail but most of you can figure these out yourselves.
So what the poster is really advocating when he says to ride a bus is social engineering. He wants us all to live in high-density housing communities so we live on top of each other so buses or other mass transit is a more viable option. I personally like living away from the crime-infested cesspools that high density communities often become. This of course is a matter of contention but put a lot of people in a small area and crime DOES become a problem. Look at LA, Moscow, Bangkok, etc. All car dealers are not scammers. It does take a lot of $$$ to roll out a new car. Of course manufacturers sell cars at a profit that is there job. If you want a cheap a car you can buy one (Kia, Hyundai, etc.). However you can buy a cheap house too. I don?t know why everyone loves to beat up on the car companies. You buy an expensive house or car you get more. It may be a diminishing value proposition but there is something you are getting besides status.
OTOH, I do understand with what the poster is trying to say but just agree on many different levels. DeBeers is definitely a monopoly of the diamond industry but oil is not so tightly controlled as the diamond market. Buy a diesel car and you don't have to worry about it. Bio-diesel is a renewable resource and is much better for the environment. Sort of like having your cake and eating it too if you are an environmentalist.