Petrol Prices - Are they to high - What can we do about it.

[AndrewT]

their toilets do flush the wrong way though

Up?

[kinboshi]

their toilets do flush the wrong way though

Up?

No, you flush the loo, then drop off the kids.  Strange place.

[rajkan]

'FILL AND FLEE' 
Date : 03.06.08

Front of my local newspaper.
 
 
More drivers are filling up with petrol and driving off without paying as the cost of fuel soars.

Garages across Leicestershire have reported an increase in the number of "fill and flee" thieves.

Some petrol station bosses said they had gone from experiencing thefts twice a month to being hit two or three times a week.

Others told of people wearing hooded jackets walking on to forecourts and hastily filling jerry cans with petrol before running off.

Police believe some petrol thieves are using stolen number plates to allow them to speed off undetected.

The Leicester Mercury contacted 25 garages yesterday and more than half said they were dealing with more drive-off thefts than ever before.

While some thieves are stealing a few pounds worth of petrol in a can, some are fleeing with a full tank of fuel, which can be worth £60 or more.

Yunus Ughartear, manager at Euro-garages petrol station, in Croft, said: "We have CCTV that can read number plates, but a few of them park around the corner, come along with a hat that covers their face, fill up a jerry can and then run off.

"We used to have these thefts about twice a month, but now it's twice or three times a week.

"Our petrol is now 115.9p and I'm sure the rise in petrol prices is driving up the number of thefts. People just can't afford it any more."

Diesel now costs an average of £1.30 a litre in Leicestershire and the cost of filling an average tank in the county has increased by nearly £5 in less than two months.

Bratina Jha, of the MPK garage, St Peter's Road, Highfields, Leicester, said: "We used to have it two to three times a month, but now it's sometimes three a week.

"People are coming inside saying they have forgotten their wallet, but then they go off and don't come back.

"Sometimes people use stolen number plates and we have people taking cans of petrol away with them.

"We have to keep our eyes open. Otherwise, we would lose so much money."

Police believe thieves are stealing licence plates to use in the drive-offs.

Sergeant Gaynor Turner, of Harborough police, said: "They cover their plates with stolen ones so their own won't be spotted and recorded."

According to police, levels of drive-off theft - known as "bilking" - have remained stable, with 551 cases reported from January to April this year, compared with 575 over the same period the year before.

However Kevin Eastwood, executive director of the British Oil Security Syndicate - which oversees security on petrol forecourts - said the crime often went unreported by garage owners because it happened so often, and because garage staff might be too busy.

The organisation's figures show garages across the country lost £28.6 million to bilking last year - up 20 per cent on 2006.
 

[Royal Flush]

Subject: Tips on Fuelling / gas filling your vehicle
 


SERIOUSLY VERY USEFUL TIPS!!!
 
Tips on Filling your Vehicles...

This is a Message received from a friend:

I don't know what you guys are paying for petrol... but here in Durban, we are also paying higher, up to 47.35 per litre. But my line of work is in petroleum for about 31 years now, so here are some tricks to get more of your money's worth for every litre.

Here at the Marian Hill Pipeline, where I work in Durban, we deliver about 4 million litres in a 24-hour period thru the pipeline.

One day is diesel; the next day is jet fuel, and petrol, LRP and Unleaded. We have 34-storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 litres.

ONLY BUY OR FILL UP YOUR CAR OR BIKE IN THE EARLY MORNING WHEN THE GROUND TEMPERATURE IS STILL COLD.
Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground, the denser the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening.... your litre is not exactly a litre.

In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products play an important role. A 1degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

WHEN YOU'RE FILLING UP, DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER OF THE NOZZLE TO A FAST MODE. If you look, you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode, you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created, while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TIPS IS TO FILL UP WHEN YOUR TANK IS HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated, so that every litre is actually the exact amount.

ANOTHER REMINDER, IF THERE IS A FUEL TRUCK PUMPING INTO THE STORAGE TANKS, WHEN YOU STOP TO BUY, DO NOT FILL UP - most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Hope, this will help you get the maximum value for your money.

DO SHARE THESE TIPS WITH OTHERS! LET'S SHARE INFORMATION AND BENEFIT ALL, FOR THE BETTER OF MANKIND.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lololololz

Must gullible blonde award goes to?

[rajkan]

Another Rip Off Story

MERCURY MAILBOX: DIESEL SHOULD NOT COST MORE 
Date : 29.05.08 
 
I'm being ripped off. I'm 68 now. For much of my life, diesel fuel was much cheaper than petrol.

Many years ago, it became the same price as petrol. For the past several years, it has been 5p to 10p more expensive than petrol per litre. Last week, it jumped again.

In several stations, it was 15p per litre more expensive than petrol.

I understand completely the reasons for the vast increase in the price of fuel. I accept this and will adjust my travel costs accordingly.

But can somebody tell me why diesel fuel costs 10p to 15p more per litre to prepare for sale than petrol? All the vibes tell me that it doesn't.

My vibes tell me that the actual production costs of diesel are pretty much the same as petrol, and that the producers are pretty certain that drivers of diesel cars will pay up and say nothing, and commercial users will pass the costs on to their customers.

It's about time for this discrepancy in prices to be featured and challenged in the media.

They should both be about the same price. Why the difference?

E Page, Leicester. 

[boldie]

Another Rip Off Story

MERCURY MAILBOX: DIESEL SHOULD NOT COST MORE 
Date : 29.05.08 
 
I'm being ripped off. I'm 68 now. For much of my life, diesel fuel was much cheaper than petrol.

Many years ago, it became the same price as petrol. For the past several years, it has been 5p to 10p more expensive than petrol per litre. Last week, it jumped again.

In several stations, it was 15p per litre more expensive than petrol.

I understand completely the reasons for the vast increase in the price of fuel. I accept this and will adjust my travel costs accordingly.

But can somebody tell me why diesel fuel costs 10p to 15p more per litre to prepare for sale than petrol? All the vibes tell me that it doesn't.

My vibes tell me that the actual production costs of diesel are pretty much the same as petrol, and that the producers are pretty certain that drivers of diesel cars will pay up and say nothing, and commercial users will pass the costs on to their customers.

It's about time for this discrepancy in prices to be featured and challenged in the media.

They should both be about the same price. Why the difference?

E Page, Leicester. 

Not really a "Rip off story" that one is it, more a moan from a 68 year old who still relies on his "Vibes" to tell him something might be off. Any 68 YO that still uses the word "Vibes" can not be trusted anyways and should be ignored.

[gatso]

Yunus Ughartear, manager at Euro-garages petrol station, in Croft, said: "We have CCTV that can read number plates, but a few of them park around the corner, come along with a hat that covers their face, fill up a jerry can and then run off.

brilliant.

my suggestion would be to employ less idiots. surely after the first time someone hid their car, covered their face, filled up a can and ran off you'd stop turning the pump on.

[rajkan]

Quote

For much of my life, diesel fuel was much cheaper than petrol.

Many years ago, it became the same price as petrol. For the past several years, it has been 5p to 10p more expensive than petrol per litre. Last week, it jumped again.

In several stations, it was 15p per litre more expensive than petrol.

I understand completely the reasons for the vast increase in the price of fuel. I accept this and will adjust my travel costs accordingly.

But can somebody tell me why diesel fuel costs 10p to 15p more per litre to prepare for sale than petrol? All the vibes tell me that it doesn't.

Why is Diesel more expensive than Petrol ?

[kinboshi]

http://www.petrolprices.com/why-diesel-costs-more-than-petrol.html

[TightEnd]

Dear Sir

The other day my husband had a revolutionary new idea. He added milk to my half filled petrol tank and was amazed to discover that my car still ran normally. Extending matters logically, he then began to add Petrol to his morning weetabix and was amazed to discover he felt unwell. When the fuel gauge came to empty he car-jacked a milk float at 4am and proceeded to fill my car up with gold top

Yesterday my husband died of fuel poisoning and now my car needs a new fuel tank. This is all Gordon Brown's fault and would never have happened if tax was cheaper.

Yours Faithfully

White van man's wife, Bridgnorth , Staffs   

[mondatoo]

Dear Sir

The other day my husband had a revolutionary new idea. He added milk to my half filled petrol tank and was amazed to discover that my car still ran normally. Extending matters logically, he then began to add Petrol to his morning weetabix and was amazed to discover he felt unwell. When the fuel gauge came to empty he car-jacked a milk float at 4am and proceeded to fill my car up with gold top

Yesterday my husband died of fuel poisoning and now my car needs a new fuel tank. This is all Gordon Brown's fault and would never have happened if tax was cheaper.

Yours Faithfully

White van man's wife, Bridgnorth , Staffs   

 

[jizzemm]

Dear Sir

The other day my husband had a revolutionary new idea. He added milk to my half filled petrol tank and was amazed to discover that my car still ran normally. Extending matters logically, he then began to add Petrol to his morning weetabix and was amazed to discover he felt unwell. When the fuel gauge came to empty he car-jacked a milk float at 4am and proceeded to fill my car up with gold top

Yesterday my husband died of fuel poisoning and now my car needs a new fuel tank. This is all Gordon Brown's fault and would never have happened if tax was cheaper.

Yours Faithfully

White van man's wife, Bridgnorth , Staffs   

 

by the way.. Diesel is more expensive because the demand in europe at the moment is more than supply.. FACT

[Acidmouse]

E-fuel is an interesting development, worth a google and read up about it. Maybe that is the future?


Pasted from News article on E-fuel.

The world's first home ethanol system, which allows consumers to create their own ethanol and pump it directly into their cars, was unveiled today by the E-Fuel Corporation (www.efuel100.com). The revolutionary EFuel100 MicroFueler(TM) is the first product that allows anyone to reduce their dependency on oil, greatly diminish their carbon footprint and produce fuel for under $1.00 per gallon.

The MicroFueler is a leading edge product that allows consumers to create ethanol, simply and safely, with the readily available ingredients of sugar, yeast and water, and a standard household 110-220 AC power supply. Cars running on sugar-based ethanol produce 85% fewer carbon emissions than gasoline. Businesses, such as breweries, bars and restaurants can even use discarded alcohol beverages to create ethanol, for as little as $0.10 per gallon.

"E-Fuel will have a profound impact on the way we obtain and consume fuel, not unlike the paradigm shift that occurred in the 80s from the mainframe computer to the PC," said Tom Quinn, E-Fuel Founder and CEO. "Just as the PC brought desktop computing to the home, E-Fuel will bring the filling station to the home. Making local sugar-based ethanol fuel production possible, E-Fuel can solve the commercial ethanol transportation and pump station problems while providing consumers lower cost fuel due to micro efficiencies."

The portable MicroFueler unit houses the same consumer-friendly LCD touch screen interface and hose pumping system found at the corner gas station, so consumers can produce where they consume, eliminating energy waste and saving dollars. The retractable pumping hose extends up to 50 feet, eliminating the need to situate the unit directly beside the household vehicle.

With its breakthrough membrane technology, E-Fuel has made an industrial process possible on a much smaller scale, and without dangerous combustion processes. Additionally, the MicroFueler has achieved an 80% power improvement over commercial ethanol manufacturers, thus raising the bar of the renewable fuel standard for carbon reduction.

[boldie]

Can normal engines cope with that?

[gatso]

Can normal engines cope with that?

with no modification a normal engine can run with up to 10% ethanol. the 10% mix is already used in quite a few countries. several US states have made it a legal requirement that all petrol sold has the 10% mix and quite a few supermarket sites in the UK now include it as well.

whether the supermarket sites advertise the fact or not I'm unsure but I'd assume they have to as the power/volume ratio is lower for ethanol than petrol.