NFT: 98 cents a gallon?! (Gasoline) Are they serious?

[SLAG]

98 cents a gallon?! Are they serious?
Yup, if you're a lucky member of a Minnesota gas cooperative
By Kevin Tibbles
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:44 p.m. ET May 3, 2006

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - St. Cloud is a 60-mile, maybe two-gallon drive from the Twin Cities. Never heard of it?

Well, listen up: In a nation of $3 gas, St. Cloudian Larry Behrendt fills up his van for ...

"I'm paying 98 cents a gallon for my gas right now," he says.

That's under a buck!

Now we've got your attention, here's why it's so cheap. St. Cloud is home to the nation's first fuel bank.

"We have a lot of the aspects of a money bank," says First Fuel Banks' Jim Feneis. "People are making a cash deposit, but they will withdraw gas."

Customers buy gas in bulk, up front, then use a simple card each time they fill up from their reserve. The price remains fixed to the day they bought the gas.

Contractor John McDowall runs a fleet of 70 vehicles.

"Savings for us is like $150 a day for our fuel savings, which equates to about $4,500 a month," he says.

When the fuel bank opened back in 1982, the price of a gallon of gas was $1.10. Today, AAA says the national average sits at $2.92.

The mayor fills up here. So do city vehicles. It adds up to big savings for St. Cloud.

"So far it's going to amount to $50,000," says city employee Chuck Koetter.

"We currently still have 300 members that are fueling sub-$1 and literally thousands of members fueling sub-$2 per gallon," says Jim Feneis.

As gas prices skyrocket, Larry Behrendt is all of a sudden a popular guy.

"There are all kinds of people that want to borrow my card, that's for sure," he laughs.

In St. Cloud, thanks to the gas bank, they're laughing all the way to the bank.


URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12615091/from/ET/

[BIG_DADDY]

That's cool I paid $3.44 a gallon this morning

[Reerun_KC]

Gas $2.59 in OKC this morning

[Calcountry]

3.29 in the valley

[jspchief]

So what's the catch?

There's got to be something missing. Otherwise, this would exist all over the country. I have a hard time believing this has been in existence since back when gas was under $1 per gallon, and no one else has been smart enough to replicate it in other cities/states.

[redngold85]

$2.75 in central Illinois...down from $2.90

[MOhillbilly]

i drove off w/ out paying this morning.

haha suckers!!!

[ferrarispider95]

From what I understand, he made a large purchase of gas, back when gas was cheap. So he gets it at the same price that he originally paid for it, even though he is actually probably filling up on gas that is in today's prices.

However, it is a little misleading, because you could have invested the money in something else and depending on the amount of years and what you invested in, you could have made lots more money.

[ferrarispider95]

2.65 in Emporia KS

[jspchief]

However, it is a little misleading, because you could have invested the money in something else and depending on the amount of years and what you invested in, you could have made lots more money.So how many investments double in value over ten years? I'd say anyone that bought in has done pretty well for themselves.

But it has to come down to finite quantities. Eventually you'll have used up what you bought, and be in the same boat as the rest of us. The bank can't replenish supplies at the old price.

I guess it makes sense. If you have the money, and know you're going to continue to buy gas, it's almost guaranteed to pay off. The odds of prices ever plummeting long term aren't that good. It especially makes sense to businesses.

[Demonpenz]

bush got his money today i paid 2.79. Your welcome bush and your cronies

[Donger]

bush got his money today i paid 2.79. Your welcome bush and your cronies

ROFL

[ChiefsOne]

MOhillbilly i drove off w/ out paying this morning.

haha suckers!!!

That would be damn funny if had a car! ROFL

[Donger]

I'm not promoting this but I understand that if you pay at the pump and have some technical savvy, the price at the pumps can be changed rather easily.

[Calcountry]

bush got his money today i paid 2.79. Your welcome bush and your croniesThat Valero stock keeps going up. :thumb:

[chief2000]

So it works like the emergency reserves.

Good thinking. Wont last long.

Biodiesel or ethanol is the future.

[Donger]

Biodiesel or ethanol is the future.

I don't think so.

[jspchief]

So it works like the emergency reserves.


I'd say it works somewhat like stocks. You invest in it with the assumption that it's going to increase in value, and the use of it is basically "selling".

Anyone that bought 5k gallons (shares) at a buck per gallon, is now getting a 300% return on their investment, by getting $15k worth of gas for $5k.

[Lzen]

I'm not promoting this but I understand that if you pay at the pump and have some technical savvy, the price at the pumps can be changed rather easily.

I think you're crazy.

[morphius]

I don't think so.
How about "near future"

[Donger]

I think you're crazy.

Why? It's been done.

[Donger]

How about "near future"

I'd say a stop-gap measure at best.

[savedin79]

$2.54 in Ozark, Mo.

[morphius]

I'd say a stop-gap measure at best.
But until Hydrogen is really ready, they are the best we have, and the technology for them is all available...

[Donger]

But until Hydrogen is really ready, they are the best we have...

Gasoline is still the best we have.

[tk13]

There was a gas station on the west side of Indianapolis really early this morning that had some kind of malfunction at the pumps, and was selling gas at 2/10ths of a cent. Literally .002 dollars per gallon. People just paid at the pump so the attendant had no idea what was going on. One guy actually appeared on camera and said he filled up his truck for 7 cents. ROFL

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wrtv/20060509/lo_wrtv/3454074

Apparently the gas station is trying to figure out if they can go back and charge the correct price to people's credit cards.

[pak1983]

I don't think so.

Checkout what Brazil is done in the timeframe. FLEX fuel vehicles, Donger your brain is mush.

[big nasty kcnut]

Well it's 2.65 here in corpus. Also this is not bush doing it's opec and people refuseal to drill in the gulf coast and anwr.

[Donger]

Checkout what Brazil is done in the timeframe. FLEX fuel vehicles, Donger your brain is mush.

Mush, eh? Do you know what the Brazilians use to produce their ethanol?

[kcfanXIII]

i'm not sure what brazil uses. i know that a combination of hemp, and corn can produce an ethynol fuel that would combust at relativly the same octane as gasoline.

[morphius]

i'm not sure what brazil uses. i know that a combination of hemp, and corn can produce an ethynol fuel that would combust at relativly the same octane as gasoline.
They use sugar cane to make their ethanol.

[Donger]

i'm not sure what brazil uses. i know that a combination of hemp, and corn can produce an ethynol fuel that would combust at relativly the same octane as gasoline.

I'm all for ethanol as an additive, but there are some major drawbacks:

1. Brazil makes their ethanol from sugar cane, which is a far more efficient method than from corn. Last time I checked, sugar cane doesn't grow very well in most of the US. Also, even if we converted all our corn fields to only provide ethanol (not food), we'd still be about 20% short.

2. A gallon of ethanol contains about 40% of the energy of a gallon of gasoline, but is more expensive to produce (and buy).

3. Ethanol cannot be transported via pipeline.

4. Ethanol is basically alcohol. Alcohol is rather hard on engine components.

There are others, but that's off of the old noggin.

Like I said, all for it as an additive, but it will never replace gasoline.

[Donger]

kcfanXIII, if you've got something to say to me on this subject, do it out here; I'd be happy to discuss it with you and I won't neg rep you while doing it.

[jspchief]

Brazilians also drive as much in one month as the average American does in one day.

It's just not a viable model for a solution for the United States.

[kcfanXIII]

but curbing the demand for gas is what needs to be done. you completely ignored using hemp seed oil. i've read that hempseed oil can be refined into a 91 octane fuel. clean burning too. maybe a combination would work. how do you suggest america ween its addiction to oil?

[kcfanXIII]

Gasoline is still the best we have.

this quote is narrow minded. its the best we have because oil companies have control of the gov, and untill public outcry becomes too loud to ignore nothing will change. ethynol blends are the best we will see.

what brazil proved is you can convert your infrastructure in under a decade. granted, america is much bigger, but it can be done here too.

[Donger]

but curbing the demand for gas is what needs to be done. you completely ignored using hemp seed oil. i've read that hempseed oil can be refined into a 91 octane fuel. clean burning too. maybe a combination would work. how do you suggest america ween its addiction to oil?

Internal combustion engines can burn many fuels. The question is can they do so economically and safely with other refined sources on a mass scale relatively soon? As of right now, no. Hence, my statement about gasoline still being the best option.

I've given my opinions on this issue before, but I'll do so again:

1. Reduce demand NOW. We can all help with this. Also increase efficiency (MPG). Additives, like ethanol, help a little. Hybrids and other vehicle types all help, too.

2. Expand/build more refining capacity.

3. Do something wacky, like drill on our own f*cking soil more.

4. Pick a future technology and commit to it on an Apollo-scale program. If it were up to me, I'd go with fuel cells.

[Donger]

this quote is narrow minded. its the best we have because oil companies have control of the gov, and untill public outcry becomes too loud to ignore nothing will change. ethynol blends are the best we will see.

what brazil proved is you can convert your infrastructure in under a decade. granted, america is much bigger, but it can be done here too.

No, it's the best because it's cheaper than the alternatives and yet contains more BTUs per gallon.

And, yes, that's why it was picked in the first place.

And, see above. No, we cannot do what Brazil did. Even we don't have the real estate.

[jidar]

this quote is narrow minded. its the best we have because oil companies have control of the gov, and untill public outcry becomes too loud to ignore nothing will change. ethynol blends are the best we will see.

what brazil proved is you can convert your infrastructure in under a decade. granted, america is much bigger, but it can be done here too.


Holy crap that's ridiculous.
If you could just get ethanol out of the ground instead of going to all of that trouble of growing and harvesting crop and then creating it, wouldn't that be more efficient? Well that's exactly what oil is.
Oil is what the world uses for Energy because it's extremely cheap and abundant. Oil is literally energy in the ground. We get it out and we burn it to get energy.
Now naturally we process it for special uses (gasoline) but that's not the same thing as having to create ethanol in a much more complex process.

In short, oil is still best because it's a lot easier (IE, takes less energey) to pump out of the ground than it is to create ethanol by orders of magnitude, it's not even close. So forget about your conspiracy theories, that's not it.

[morphius]

Though it is a bit more expensive, I like biodiesel as there are only minor conversations needed, but at the same time you get the same BTU's and it gets better mpg then ethanol or unleaded.

[Donger]

Though it is a bit more expensive, I like biodiesel as there are only minor conversations needed, but at the same time you get the same BTU's and it gets better mpg then ethanol or unleaded.

Most biodiesels are non-starters on a national scale, for the same reason as why ethanol won't cut it: not enough land. I did read that there is some promising research being done on algae biodiesel and that if successful, could convert to 100%

[Nightwish]

$2.75 in central Illinois...down from $2.90
$2.69 today in St. Louis, down in Central West End. It seems to be slowly going down.