Price of Gas in Alaska

by Robert L. Gisel


The Juneau Empire just ran an article on the price of gas at the pump In Juneau, Alaska, fluctuations of, prompting me to reply with this comment:

This time last year when I flew from LA to Anchorage the only thing cheaper in Alaska was the gas. No joke. At $3.29 a gallon in LA it was, lowest in town, $2.99 a gallon, went up to $3.09 (lowest station) in the two weeks I was there. Still it was over $3.30 in LA. I was told that was because it was the gas refined in Alaska.

"Milsec" above logged these prices from Juneau:

6/05/08 $4.059 gal $122.54 Barrel
6/11/08 $4.159 gal $128.86 Barrel
6/23/08 $4.419 gal $140.21 Barrel
7/04/08 $4.499 gal $145.29 Barrel
7/09/08 $4.499 gal $145.08 Barrel
7/19/08 $4.649 gal $128.88 Barrel
8/15/08 $4.599 gal $113.77 Barrel

In Sacramento, north side, the price has been over $4.00 a gallon since June. Mid July or so it finally hit at least $4.43, lowest stations, Kwick Stop and Exon AM/PM, and as high as $4.69 even $4.75 at Chevrons and Shell Stations. This month it finally came back under $4.00. Today the price has posted at $3.72, lowest, to 10 to 20 cents higher in other stations. All of these prices were higher yet in South Sacramento.

Daily the gas stations here are given a wholesale price figure and daily the price is raised or lowered, or not, according to the competitiveness and goodwill of the station manager.

So why not gas from the refineries in Alaska into Juneau instead of Saudi gas from Seattle? I highly doubt that it is Alaska gas from Seattle. I'd think you'd have a better chance to get cheaper gas where you produce it, even in California which refines gas and still runs among the highest prices in the nation, at least the south 48. Talk to your own, Governor or whoever will listen, as very possibly the cheapest (and home grown) gas available to Alaska is refined in Alaska.

There's always the alternate route: LimitlessEnergy.blogspot.com. Yank your drive train and put in an electric engine.

Let's face it, price at the pump corresponds to the daily spot price of crude oil and that is speculated and manipulated for profit making purposes. The only guarantee of no worry of the price of gas at the pump is don't pump any. There are alternatives, doable and affordable, that make much more sense right now.

The New Wave In Boating

by Robert L. Gisel


This news feed just came in for a new boat propulsion system: Japanese sailor first to cross the Pacific in a wave-powered boat. This is a boat propelled by wave action that was just sailed across the Pacific Ocean solely by wave power. The journey took 110 days, but hey, he made it, okay?

He says his target was to arrive in late May so arriving in July he was just a bit overdue because of low wave action. That is an interesting but unique version the doldrums.

Obviously it's not quite up for pulling water skiers, but look at the Wright Brothers first flights: the initial experimental airplanes weren't exactly barnstormers. The adventurer, Kenichi Horie, does admit it's only a start in an alternate energy system where no one else has been looking. It is remarkable nonetheless.

Maybe he could try this: using solar power to heat water to steam an jet this into water ahead of the wave powered fins to speed up the action. There's some other alternates I'd try first, like an electric motor.