Showing posts with label Oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oil. Show all posts

Monday, August 27, 2012

Air power

Yesterday this news caught my eyes...

Tata Motors successfully tests air powered cars

 

The Indian car maker has completed testing of 2 air powered cars that run on, as the name suggests, compressed air.

Still in prototype stage, the car based on technology, can attain speeds in vicinity of 65km/h. The air required for propulsion is either sucked in while driving using electric motors or you need to drive into a air pumping station for your fill of Air.

 CNET says thus:

The company, which built the 'world's cheapest car' and then covered it in gems and also makes terrifying war vehicles completed testing on two vehicles that are powered by compressed air back in May. A joint-venture with MDI, the prototype-stage 'AirPod' cars apparently cost just €1 per 200km, or £0.00631899077 per mile.
CNET also calls this car a Robot Ladybird. Yea it sure looks like one!


Those who might be thinking if this idea is viable let me tell you how this car works:

First, energy has to be stored in it by squeezing the air tightly using a mechanical air compressor. Once the compressed air is released, it expands. This expanding air can be used, for example, to drive the pistons that power an engine. The idea of using compressed air to power a vehicle isn't new: Early prototypes of an air-powered vehicle go back to the middle of the 19th century, even before the invention of the internal combustion engine.

The first air cars will almost certainly use the Compressed Air Engine (CAE) developed by the French company, Motor Development International (MDI). Air cars using this engine will have tanks that will probably hold about 3,200 cubic feet (90.6 kiloliters) of compressed air. The vehicle's accelerator operates a valve on its tank that allows air to be released into a pipe and then into the engine, where the pressure of the air's expansion will push against the pistons and turn the crankshaft. This will produce enough power for speeds of about 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour. When the air car surpasses that speed, a motor will kick in to operate the in-car air compressor so it can compress more air on the fly and provide extra power to the engine.
Another advantage of air cars is that the fuel should be remarkably cheap, an important consideration in this era of volatile gas prices. Some estimates say that the cars will get the equivalent of 106 miles (171 kilometers) per gallon, although compressed air will probably not be sold by the gallon. A more meaningful estimate is that it may take as little as $2 worth of electricity to fill the compressed air tank, though you'll also need gasoline to power the electric motor that compresses air while driving.

Now the first disadvantage would be the speed. But for most Indian roads 65 km/hr is good. We were fined when we went above 70 km per hour. It happened on our way back from Trivandrum via the MC road and while we were near Pandalam. We had just taken a turn and were stopped by the highway police. They fined us IRS 300/- and did give us a reciept. We did have company since many were caught that day.

According to the Web site Gas 2.0, an air car in the United States would create about .176 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per mile based on the average mix of electric power sources during refueling. By comparison, a Toyota Prius Hybrid, which combines a battery-powered electric motor with an internal combustion engine, generates about 0.34 pounds of carbon dioxide per mile. So, while the air car is not quite pollution free, it still represents an improvement over one of the most popular hybrid cars on the market [source: Nuccitelli].
And now the latest:

"Tata Motors (an Indian car manufacturer) is changing things up with the first car to run on air, the Airpod. The Airpod's technology was originally created in France at Motor Development International but has since been bought by Tata in hopes of bringing it to the Indian consumer car market. With virtually zero emissions and at the cost of about a penny per kilometer, it is definitely one of the most environmentally and economically friendly vehicles in the world. The tank holds about 175 liters of compressed air that can be filled at special stations or by activating the on-board electric motor to suck air in from the outside. Costing about $10,000, this car could beat out most smart cars from the market."

 
So is it time to look for our fortune else where? I mean, if air is going to power a few cars wont oil become less rewarding? 

Anyway, let me wish the Tatas the very best since it is one Indian company that I have much faith. 

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Someone please answer...

http://www.iocl.com/Aboutus/FinancialPerformance.aspx
Someone please explain how these companies are churning out profit year after year/ quarter after quarter; yet they want to pinch more from the common man.  They say they want to increase the price of oil yet again. Why? Where are they siphoning this profit? If they were in loss, it should reflect in their financial statement.




The products obtained from 1 barrel of crude oil


Petrol - 73.8 1ltr
Diesel - 34.82 ltr
Jet fuel - 15.5 ltr
Furnace Oil - 8.7 ltr
Liquid gas - 7.19 ltr
Steel Gas - 7.19 ltr
Coal - 6.81 ltr
Bitumen - 4.92 ltr
Petrochemical feedstocks - 4.54 ltr
Lubricants - 1.89 ltr
Kerosene - 0.75 ltr
Others - 1.13 ltr
 
Is the government using the oil companies to take money for their own use?

Is this how they are worming out off every scam that they face?

Is this why no probe seems to bother them?

I had raised this doubt in one of my earlier post but I find no answers.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Watch Singham

Let me understand the term Public Company.

It is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government. Their legal status varies from being a part of government into stock companies with a state as a regular stockholder. There is no standard definition of a government-owned corporation (GOC) or state-owned enterprise (SOE), although the two terms can be used interchangeably. The defining characteristics are that they have a distinct legal form and they are established to operate in commercial affairs. While they may also have public policy objectives, GOCs should be differentiated from other forms of government agencies or state entities established to pursue purely non-financial objectives that have no need or goal of satisfying the shareholders with return on their investment through price increase or dividends

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/government-corporation#ixzz1YDmIos6J


In India, a government-owned corporation is termed as a public sector undertaking (PSU). This term is used to refer to companies in which the government (either the federal Union Government or the many state or territorial governments, or both) own a majority (51 percent or more) of the company equity. Some examples include:
Since I am more interested about the Oil Companies, let me look at India's star performer.

Indian Oil Corporation:

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. is India's largest company by sales with a turnover of Rs. 3,28,744 crore ($ 68,837 million) and profit of Rs. 7445.48 crore ($ 1,719 million) for the year 2010-11.

IndianOil is the highest ranked Indian company in the latest Fortune ‘Global 500’ listings, ranked at the 98th position. IndianOil's vision is driven by a group of dynamic leaders who have made it a name to reckon with.

In this section, read about IndianOil’s business and its spread across the country & abroad. You can also know about IndianOil's current financial performance, special initiatives and recognitions & awards that have come its way.
collage
Updated on July 11, 2011
  • IndianOil breaks into Top 100 of Fortune Global listing, ranked 98th
  • IndianOil: One of ‘The Best Companies to Work For’
                                  
This is just one of our petroleum companies, and as an Indian, I should be really proud of it's performance by only looking at the profit it churns out year after year. And this holds true for every other state owned oil companies and so also the two private oil companies: Reliance and Essar.

And what are they doing with this profit? Oh yes.. they pay dividends. And how do they make this profit? Mostly by the sale of petroleum products. Who buys them? The Indian populace. One should remember that not every Indian directly purchases these oil products but every Indian is unfortunately linked with the same since every commodity he purchases is connected to Oil one way or the other. Hence when the oil prices increase it is the 70% of India's population who is yet again squeezed. As of 2005, according to World Bank statistics, 75.6% of the population lived on less than $2 a day (PPP), while 41.6% of the population was living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 (PPP) per day.

Last year when we went for our vacation, I clearly remember that the petrol price was around IRS 55/- and this year? IRS 68/- ! Figure out the increase in price.

Yes, last year the price of crude oil was USD 74 (avg) in September while this year USD 86. But what I do not understand is how in the world were these oil companies making profit year after year even when the price stood at an average of USD 85/- ? And what are they doing with this profit? Yet even this time they blame lack of profit for the price increase.

The year before last, Reliance opened their petrol bunks all over Kerala but was soon forced to close due to lack of profit. And then the government gave up their the right of control over oil prices and now those petrol bunks are back in business. Figure out how.

While listening to our policy makers and politicians, I understand that they have no intention in doing anything to solve the present crisis.

And why should they, when we read that just like these companies even they have been churning out profit year after year!

"The average asset value of a minister in the current ministry is Rs.10,63,55,097 (Rs.10.6 crore). In 2009, the average asset value of a minister was Rs.7.3 crore. The current ministers, on an average, are Rs.3.3 crore richer than in 2009," the report said."

On the other hand, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's assets have grown by 107 percent, even though he has not mentioned three residential flats owned by him and his wife.



And hence what shall the the Indian citizens do....
 
Watch the movie Singham!

 
 
Invoke your imagination and your "favourite" politician/policy maker  to mind. Try to enjoy the result. 

But do forget that this movie is made by Reliance... and that over the years the Indian masses have been conditioned to vent their frustration by watching movies.





Sunday, December 21, 2008

Oil price…

Oil price went up.. the world complained and rallied against the high price...

Now the oil price is going down and the world complains even more for the falling prices..


And we still expect God to listen to our prayers.

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