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Hm. I dunno about that site and what is supposed to be posted on your pumps. But the 95 you mentioned has to be the research number. Otherwise it's crazy high. ...
Just to confirm Baldrick's post, here in Germany we started removing our lowest octane fuel 91 a few years ago. Now our cheapest gas has 95 octane, which is called Super. The next better gas has 98 octane, called Super Plus.
Also some major gas stations offer a higher octane fuel, for example Aral (I think that's now a subcompany of BP) offers 102 octane.
Some cars are optimized to use the 98 octane gas, but others are not and so it's mostly useless to get 98 octane gas.
It was funny to see 85 and 85.5 octane gas in the mid-west. Then again the price is half the price we pay here!
As for the topic: Many people drive diesel cars in Germany. Yes, they are more expensive but they consume about 20-25% less fuel than gas cars at the same engine power. There is a webpage www.spritmonitor.de (in German) where many drivers compare their mileage. The comparison between diesel and gas is very interesting: Leistung kontra Verbrauch - Spritmonitor.de
The first chart are diesel cars and the second chart are gas cars. Here in Germany we don't measure in miles per gallon but in liters per 100 km (~61 miles). For example a 100 kW diesel car consumes approximately 6.9 liters per 100km and a 100 kW gas car consumes about 8.7 liters per 100km. That's about 21% less!
With gas prices twice as high as in the USA the higher price for a diesel car is quickly amortized. Also diesel is still cheaper than gas but the prices are slowly adjusting to match the gas prices.
A last example of our current fuel prices:
1 gallon Diesel: 7,32$
1 gallon 95 octane gas: 8,03$
I discovered this in a Motorcycle magazine about 5-8 yrs ago. Historically Diesel is cheaper than reg unleaded in the summer and a little bit more than super unleaded in the winter (at least since 92 when I got my first diesel.) That all changed in the 2000's . What happen is in the late 1990's the military look at all the different fuels they were using and realized that there where to many gasoline, LP, kerosene, diesel and jet fuel. They decided to switch to one fuel (diesel) for all their needs (except jet fuel) whether it was a 1kw generator, motorcycle or a tank. We have been at war for the last decade so the military is buying it all and competing with us consumers .
Just to confirm Baldrick's post, here in Germany we started removing our lowest octane fuel 91 a few years ago. Now our cheapest gas has 95 octane, which is called Super. The next better gas has 98 octane, called Super Plus.
Also some major gas stations offer a higher octane fuel, for example Aral (I think that's now a subcompany of BP) offers 102 octane.
Some cars are optimized to use the 98 octane gas, but others are not and so it's mostly useless to get 98 octane gas.
It was funny to see 85 and 85.5 octane gas in the mid-west. Then again the price is half the price we pay here!
Just to clarify; Europe, Japan and most other countries use a different octane rating system then is used in the US, Canada, Australia and some South American countries like Brazil. In Europe they quote the "headline octane number" which is the RON (Research Octane Number). In the US we quote the AKI (Anti-Knock Index) which is the average of the RON and the MON (Motor Octane Number). This results in US fuel using an octance number on the pump that is roughly 4-6 points lower then the ones used in Europe, however, the fuels are very much equivalent.
US Rating......Euro Equivalent
87................91
91................95
93................98
94................100
I discovered this in a Motorcycle magazine about 5-8 yrs ago. Historically Diesel is cheaper than reg unleaded in the summer and a little bit more than super unleaded in the winter (at least since 92 when I got my first diesel.) That all changed in the 2000's . What happen is in the late 1990's the military look at all the different fuels they were using and realized that there where to many gasoline, LP, kerosene, diesel and jet fuel. They decided to switch to one fuel (diesel) for all their needs (except jet fuel) whether it was a 1kw generator, motorcycle or a tank. We have been at war for the last decade so the military is buying it all and competing with us consumers .
um....no.
The reason the price of diesel fuel increased in the early-mid 2000's was the introduction of the requirements for ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel). Diesel now requires more refining to remove the sulfur content and this increases the cost. On top of that, it is also harder to distribute through the pipelines. See, the pipelines carry multiple different types of fuel. Aviation fuel has high sulfur content. Say that they sent a load of aviation fuel down the pipeline and then they send a batch of ULSD down the line. By the time the ULSD got to the end of the pipe, it no longer qualified as ULSD because of the residual sulfur it would pick up in the line. So, now they need to batch fuels better and clean the lines more often and in-between loads of different types of fuels, this again raises the costs of distribution.
If you are interested, here is the updated 2012 military "fuel and lubricant standardization protocol". Listed quite prominently is the standardized usage of EN228 or regular unleaded gasoline. They have begun standardizing to JP-8 in combat zones which is a kerosene derived jet fuel that is used in planes, helicopters, tanks, AFV's, etc. However, this standard is not totally in place and is based on future equipment designs.
The reason the price of diesel fuel increased in the early-mid 2000's was the introduction of the requirements for ULSD (Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel). Diesel now requires more refining to remove the sulfur content and this increases the cost. On top of that, it is also harder to distribute through the pipelines. See, the pipelines carry multiple different types of fuel. Aviation fuel has high sulfur content. Say that they sent a load of aviation fuel down the pipeline and then they send a batch of ULSD down the line. By the time the ULSD got to the end of the pipe, it no longer qualified as ULSD because of the residual sulfur it would pick up in the line. So, now they need to batch fuels better and clean the lines more often and in-between loads of different types of fuels, this again raises the costs of distribution.
If you are interested, here is the updated 2012 military "fuel and lubricant standardization protocol". Listed quite prominently is the standardized usage of EN228 or regular unleaded gasoline. They have begun standardizing to JP-8 in combat zones which is a kerosene derived jet fuel that is used in planes, helicopters, tanks, AFV's, etc. However, this standard is not totally in place and is based on future equipment designs.
Haven't seen 100LL sent down a pipeline for many years due to the Tetraethyl Lead content in the fuel. AVGAS is such a tiny portion of a percent of the total fuels market in the USA that it's not been feasible to send it through a pipeline and then a pig through it before unleaded fuel needed to go through. That's why most of our AVGAS production for years ... if not all, coming from a refinery in Puerto Rico ... is shipped by surface freight; ie, tanker rail or truck. And why AVGAS is so expensive at the pump for those of us who must use it.
Just to confirm Baldrick's post, here in Germany we started removing our lowest octane fuel 91 a few years ago. Now our cheapest gas has 95 octane, which is called Super. The next better gas has 98 octane, called Super Plus.
Also some major gas stations offer a higher octane fuel, for example Aral (I think that's now a subcompany of BP) offers 102 octane.
Some cars are optimized to use the 98 octane gas, but others are not and so it's mostly useless to get 98 octane gas.
It was funny to see 85 and 85.5 octane gas in the mid-west. Then again the price is half the price we pay here!
As has been mentioned, the way we calculate octane here is very different. What's more, I have no idea where in the Midwest you've seen 85 octane gas. I've been to nearly every corner of the Midwest from Junction City KS to Houghton MI to Youngstown and Cincinnati and have never seen gas rated below 87 octane. In fact the only time in my life when I've seen gasoline rated below 87 was 86 octane in the higher elevations of the Appalachian mountains.
As has been mentioned, the way we calculate octane here is very different. What's more, I have no idea where in the Midwest you've seen 85 octane gas. I've been to nearly every corner of the Midwest from Junction City KS to Houghton MI to Youngstown and Cincinnati and have never seen gas rated below 87 octane. In fact the only time in my life when I've seen gasoline rated below 87 was 86 octane in the higher elevations of the Appalachian mountains.
You've apparently never been in the Rocky Mountain region, where 85 Octane is the "regular" gasoline here throughout Wyoming and Colorado. You don't even have to be in the mountains ... once you've headed as far west as the high plains, the drop in octance to 85 is what you'll find. I've seen 85 octane on the plains in Nebraska as the normal regular gas octane.
Actually 100ll or avgas is transported by pipeline, a dedicated pipeline that was feasible to build at that..
and yes it is also transported by ship, barge, train and or truck.
Major American airports rely almost entirely on pipelines, and have dedicated pipelines to deliver jet fuel directly to the airport. Refined Products Pipelines
Quote:
Originally Posted by sunsprit
Haven't seen 100LL sent down a pipeline for many years due to the Tetraethyl Lead content in the fuel. AVGAS is such a tiny portion of a percent of the total fuels market in the USA that it's not been feasible to send it through a pipeline and then a pig through it before unleaded fuel needed to go through. That's why most of our AVGAS production for years ... if not all, coming from a refinery in Puerto Rico ... is shipped by surface freight; ie, tanker rail or truck. And why AVGAS is so expensive at the pump for those of us who must use it.
Actually 100ll or avgas is transported by pipeline, a dedicated pipeline that was feasible to build at that..
and yes it is also transported by ship, barge, train and or truck.
Major American airports rely almost entirely on pipelines, and have dedicated pipelines to deliver jet fuel directly to the airport. Refined Products Pipelines
Just to build on that, while I used AVGAS as the example, there are many other distillates that are shipped by pipeline that cause the issue as well. Things like kerosene, home heating oil and various lubricants for instance. On the AVGAS issue, while there are dedicated pipelines to the airports, the product still needs to be moved over main lines from refineries to DC's where the pipelines then carry it to the airports.
Under rules adopted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the new diesel fuel called Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) will contain a maximum of 15 parts-per-million (PPM) of sulfur and will replace most of the low sulfur diesel fuel now in use, which contains up to 500 PPM of sulfur.
The potential for contamination of ULSD during pipeline transportation has been the subject of much study and investment in the oil pipeline industry.
...
However, pipeline operators currently lack sufficient experience moving ULSD to guarantee that ULSD can be delivered to all markets on specification in the time frames contemplated by the EPA. Limited experience by pipeline operators to date with ULSD shows that it will require significant effort to prevent sulfur contamination of ULSD in pipeline systems that of necessity must transport other high sulfur products as well.
The experience of operators so far shows that sulfur contamination of ULSD increases at successively distant points in the pipeline system, especially after transfers through tankage and to other pipelines.
...
Oil pipeline operators are now making the investments and preparing for the transition period that will begin in June.
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