As consumers many of us have adjusted our lifestyles. We try to drive less. Some have chosen to car pool, while others get rid of their gas-guzzlers and opt for more fuel-efficient vehicles including hybrids.

For companies, the good old days meant fuel up and go. Little attention was paid to managing fuel. But in the past year the price of oil has doubled cutting deeper than ever into profits causing owners and managers to adopt a new fuel consciousness. Fuel Management is a necessity.

You can’t control the price of fuel, but you can control your fuel consumption. The answer is Fuel Management.

Any company can improve their fuel efficiencies. It takes work and commitment from the head office to your people on the road and at the job sites. More and more companies are making changes in their operating practices to cut costs now and to be prepared for even higher costs in the future.

To help you adjust, here are Ten Ways to Cut Fuel Costs:

1. Train and educate your drivers: It starts with the people who have their foot on the gas pedal. Your drivers can control fuel consumption each time they fire up their engines, and proper training can improve fuel efficiency, economy and emissions. Hard acceleration, speeding and idling are the biggest causes of fuel waste. Initiate a training course for drivers and reward participation.

2. Decrease Idling: Be aware of the time engines idle. No longer can we leave machinery and equipment running all day long. Stop your engines! Excessive idling adds to your fuel costs by as much as 50% and can shorten the life of engine oil by 75%, adding more costs. Initiate a campaign to reduce idling time and reward participants. Allowing an engine to idle more than 3 minutes causes expensive damage which harms efficiency, shortens engine life and increases maintenance costs. It all adds up.

3. Start off slower: This is another lesson your drivers must be taught. Jackrabbit starts waste fuel and save less than 3 minutes per hour driving, but can result in using 40% more fuel and increase toxic emissions by 400%! What’s the rush? Ease up on the gas pedal and your efficiencies will improve.

4. Slow down: Speeding is dangerous, it wastes fuel and creates higher levels of toxic emissions. Speeds over 100 km/hour drastically impact fuel efficiencies – cars travelling at 120 km/hour use 20% more fuel. Trucks travelling at 120 km/hour use 50% more fuel and they also emit 100% more carbon monoxide, 50% more hydrocarbons and 31% more nitrogen oxides.

5. Lose Weight: Excess weight places unnecessary strain on your vehicle’s engine and greatly affects its fuel efficiency. By removing as little as 100 pounds you can significantly improve your gas mileage. Check each vehicle and pitch out that unnecessary weight!

6. Use a Fuel Management System: This is the most powerful way to lower fuel costs and increase productivity. Available systems range from basic onsite refuelling (which saves up to 20 minutes in wasted time and fuel each day, per vehicle) to automated fuel tracking (which details every litre pumped into every vehicle by date, time, quantity and fuel type) to telematics (which measures overall fuel efficiency, vehicle performance, tracks fuel waste due to idling, speeding, etc. and identifies critical areas to improve efficiency and reduce fuel costs and emissions.) The technology exists so you can become a Fuel Manager and stay on top of your fuel consumption, one vehicle at a time. It can work for you.

7. Upgrade your Fleet: Whenever possible, invest in modern, fuel-efficient vehicles. Modern diesel engines are far more fuel-efficient and perform better with modern diesel fuels such as ultra low sulphur diesel and biodiesel. Though it may seem expensive, new diesel vehicles can save thousands of dollars in maintenance, fuel and productivity per vehicle. Measure each piece of equipment for fuel efficiency and get rid of the bad ones! Replace and upgrade your equipment regularly. It may hurt now but it will pay you back.

8. Tune-up vehicles regularly: Do you have a stringent, well-managed maintenance policy? Many companies “fix it when it breaks.” This attitude costs too much in wasted fuel. A well maintained vehicle performs better, improves fuel efficiency, reduces toxic emissions and, in the long run, will cost less to maintain.

9. Pump it up: Proper tire inflation improves gas mileage. At 4Refuel our statistics show improperly inflated tires can cost up to 2 weeks worth of fuel per year! How big is your fleet? Two weeks per year per vehicle adds up to thousands of dollars in lost profits! In addition proper inflation results in improved vehicle and braking performance, and increases tire life.

10. Implement Advanced Mobile Asset Management Technology: Wow, that’s a mouth full! You can measure and manage your fleet better when you have the right information. Tracking miles traveled, average speed and engine efficiency is critical to cutting fuel costs. This information will help your drivers and managers optimize routes with better planning. Mapping software and GPS will eliminate thousands of unnecessary miles per week. Less time on the road means less fuel consumed, less wear on vehicles, decreased expenditures and overall increased productivity, plus lower toxic emissions!

Once you have made a total commitment to managing your fuel better and changing some of your bad fuel habits, results will follow. Stick with it. Fuel prices are only going up.

Jack Lee is the President and CEO of 4Refuel Canada Inc, The Leader in Fuel Management. If you have any questions or comments about this article Jack can be reached at (604) 513-0386 or on line: askthefuelexpert@4refuel.com

“Especially with today’s economic challenges, Americans face a growing threat from our nation’s dangerous addiction to oil,” said Deron Lovaas, NRDC’s transportation policy director. “This report shows how important it is for states to promote clean energy policies that will reduce our dependence on oil, while also reducing global warming pollution.”

The report, “Fighting Oil Addiction: Ranking States’ Oil Vulnerability and Solutions for Change,” provides a detailed look at how oil prices impact consumers and ways in which smart policies can help break states’ addiction to oil.

According to the report, the top 10 states most vulnerable to oil price increases are: #1 Mississippi; #2 Montana; #3 South Carolina; #4 Oklahoma; #5 Louisiana; #6 Kentucky, #7 Texas; #8 New Mexico; #9 Georgia; and #10 Arkansas.

The top 10 states that are doing the most to promote clean energy technologies and reduce their dependence on oil are: #1 California; #2 Massachusetts; #3 Washington; #4 New Mexico; #5 Connecticut; #6 New York; #7 New Jersey; #8 Pennsylvania; #9 Oregon; and #10 Florida.

The report focuses on two important factors that relate to the nation’s addiction to oil. First, it calculates oil vulnerability — how heavily each state’s drivers are affected by increases in oil prices. Second, it ranks states on their adoption of solutions to reduce their oil dependence — measures they are taking to lessen their vulnerability and to bolster America’s security.

The report also shows that by promoting clean vehicle and fuel technologies as well as transportation alternatives states can reduce oil dependence. These measures can, in turn, create clean energy jobs, reduce vulnerability to fuel price hikes, and lessen air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Lovaas added, “The Federal government can step in to help states break their addiction to oil by implementing comprehensive clean energy and climate policies and by reforming our national transportation system through an overhauled, performance-driven transportation policy.”

The full report, with state-by-state rankings, can be accessed at: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/states/

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.

SUV Fuel Efficiency

People that buy SUVs are not only concerned with power, cargo capacity and off-road ability. Today the fuel efficiency is much more important than it was some couple of years ago.

So CarandDriver.com compiled a list of the 10 most Fuel-Efficient SUVs in the US. The list is based on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) miles-per-gallon ratings for city and highway travel.

# First: 2009 Escape / Tribute / Mariner Hybrid
# Second: 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line
# Third: 2008 Lexus RX400h
# Fourth: 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid
# Fifth: 2008 Jeep Compass / Patriot
# Sixth: 2009 Escape / Tribute / Mariner
# Seventh: 2008 Nissan Rogue
# Eighth: 2008 Toyota RAV4
# Ninth:2008 Honda CR-V
# The C/D Solution: 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI SportWagen

The three top finisher’s Stats were:

Top Three Finisher’s Stats:

First Place: 2009 Ford Escape / Mazda Tribute / Mercury Mariner Hybrid
City: 34 mpg
Highway: 31 mpg
Combined: 32 mpg

Second Place: 2008 Saturn Vue Green Line
City: 25 mpg
Highway: 32 mpg
Combined: 32 mpg

Third Place: 2008 Lexus RX400h
City: 27 mpg
Highway: 24 mpg
Combined: 25 mpg

So I recommend reading the full article from CarandDriver.com and start doing something for the environment and your money – Frugal Utes: The 10 Most Fuel-Efficient SUVs in the U.S

The station is the first of 12 outlets planned to open nationwide by 2010 and will serve a campus fleet of five fuel-cell cars. It’s the first part of the infrastructure needed to support the far-off prospect of hydrogen-powered cars in the UK.

The vehicles are part of the university’s own fleet, and will allow engineering researchers to learn more about their efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Professor Kevin Kendall from the University explained the reasoning behind the station: “It is absolutely necessary that we have the means to refuel our fleet of hydrogen-powered cars so that we can carry out our research into the feasibility of hydrogen in a transport context.”

Air Products installed the fuel station and also recently announced that it is working with Transport for London (TfL) to build fuel stations for a fleet of 70 hydrogen-powered vehicles being introduced from next year.

Meanwhile, the hydrogen itself will be provided by Green Gases Ltd, which manufactures the gas using renewable biomass energy, an approach the university claims will ensure that both the manufacturing process and use of the fuel cells will result in no carbon emissions.

Further growth is expected, with perhaps 12 hydrogen filling stations around the UK by 2010, raising the possibility of commercial production of cars powered by fuel cells.

Synthetic methanol’s green credentials arise from its potential to be completely CO2 neutral. The most likely future mass-production of the fuel is by using electrochemical techniques to combine oxygen, hydrogen and carbon:

• Carbon could be sourced from carbon dioxide recovered from the atmosphere using either large scale extraction facilities or biomass.
• Oxygen would be taken from the atmosphere already contained in the CO2 molecule.
• Hydrogen would be acquired through the electrolysis of water; challenges remain in the electrical power required; in a green future, this could be supplied from renewable sources, an issue already being addressed by supporters of hydrogen as a fuel.
• Synthetic methanol can also be supplemented by production from biomass sources where properly sustainable.
• Methanol can be produced easily from a wide variety of feedstocks.

Please see Synthetic Methanol Cycle Diagrams attached

Synthetic methanol – How to make it?

Techniques for the production of synthetic methanol through the extraction of atmospheric CO2 are well developed and understood but are not being employed on an industrial scale. An early solution would be the co-location of a nuclear or hydroelectric powerplant with a conventional power station – the hydrogen generated by hydrolysis of water would be combined with CO2 from either fossil or biomass sources to make liquid methanol. In the future, large volumes of CO2 could be extracted directly from the atmosphere.

Synthetic methanol – easy to adopt?

As well as being green, another crucial advantage of synthetic methanol is that it can be introduced relatively simply. As the Exige 270E Tri-fuel demonstrates, only small changes to engines are required, such as:

• Sensors to detect alcohol content
• Modified software for engine management control driving alcohol/gasoline, flex fuel and fuel systems operations.
• Fuel lines compatible with alcohol fuels
• Higher flow rate fuel pump and injectors
• Fuel tank material, compatible with alcohol

In addition, as a liquid, which is miscible with gasoline, synthetic methanol can be transported; stored and sold to motorists exactly as today’s liquid fuels are, with only minor modifications.

Synthetic methanol – a performance fuel?

Synthetic methanol is better suited to spark-ignition combustion than today’s liquid fuels, delivering better performance and thermal efficiencies, due to its higher octane rating giving it better resistance to ‘knock’. As a result, it is a fuel that will benefit the motorists in terms of driving experience. For example, the Exige 270E Tri-fuel is quicker to 60mph from standstill and has a higher top speed when using 100% synthetic methanol fuel than with conventional gasoline. Synthetic methanol is also ideally suited to pressure-charging, a trend already well underway as car makers look to downsize engines to reduce fuel consumption.

Synthetic methanol – the way forward

Lotus Engineering regards sustainable alcohols as the third step in a process towards carbon neutral driving. The current E85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) based movement represents the first stage in building momentum towards sustainable fuels. The valuable learning from the current bioethanol vehicles on the market means that synthetic methanol would easily be managed technically and within the existing transport, storage and distribution infrastructure. The steps towards a synthetic methanol economy for transportation fuels could be as follows:

1st Generation: there is a handful of current bioethanol models on sale around the world. These cars run on E85 bioethanol, which is produced from valuable arable crops (food). This is unsustainable in the short and medium term as global demand for fuel will outstrip the supply available from farmland to the detriment of food production, but is a necessary step in the evolution of the market.

2nd Generation: the next generation bioethanol fuels will be based on biomass waste, for example crop stubble, waste vegetable-based oils and any biodegradable waste matter. This is thought also to be unsustainable in the medium to long term as the required volume of biomass increases beyond that
which can be supplied.

3rd Generation: sustainable alcohols such as synthetic methanol can be introduced due to its miscibility with ethanol and gasoline. This fuel can be produced from entirely sustainable, readily available inputs, with an environmentally neutral overall impact.

4th Generation: Direct Methanol Fuel Cells: over the longer term, sustainable alcohols in internal combustion will facilitate the soft introduction of direct methanol fuel cells as a long term sustainable future fuel. This will only be possible with pure methanol pumps on the forecourt which internal combustion engines can bring forward due to their ability to consume a mixture of fuels.

Lotus Engineering strongly believes governments, fuel suppliers and car manufacturers have a key role to play in the adoption of sustainable alcohols as a future green fuel.

If car manufacturers were incentivised to produce next generation models for introduction over the next 5 to 10 years as flex-fuel vehicles capable of running on any mix of gasoline and bioethanol, there would be no need for an unfeasible instant global changeover. Late software changes can permit the introduction of methanol and fortunately, E85 bioethanol and subsequently synthetic methanol can be introduced gradually to the marketplace, due to their miscibility.

Should fuel suppliers increase the industrial-scale production of synthetic methanol, it could be introduced to forecourts across the globe within 15-20 years and eventually become a global standard.

Petroleum products, including gas, are not going to become cheaper. One of the reasons for this is simply that they are limited and more and more people are competing for a diminishing supply. This is Economics 101 stuff and is known as supply and demand. As supply goes down and demand goes up, the price goes up. Anyway, when was the last time you saw major price reductions on a commodity like gas?

At the same time, people around the world are beginning to realize that not only are petroleum supplies limited, but the effects of burning gas and other petroleum products to power cars, factories, and your lawn mower are creating a highly unstable environmental situation…one which may have disastrous consequences for our children and grandchildren if not for us.

Therefore, these tips not only tell you some ways you can simply save money on gas, but also nudge you a little bit along the path of change. As we have often heard, “If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting.” We have been getting more pollution and higher gas prices. Isn’t it time to make some sort of change?

Now, who am I and where do I get my info? Well, I have done a lot of research and reading, but I have also been a long-haul, over-the-road trucker and owned my own truck. With a vehicle that got 6 to 8 MPG and with 300 gallon tanks to fill every couple of days I became attuned to ways to reduce my out-of-pocket expenses. Last year, I traded my Dodge Intrepid and Isuzu Rodeo for a Toyota Prius hybrid…which is a great car. While you can do all sorts of things, including walking, in order to save money on gas, here’s my top five picks.

1. Trade in the gas guzzler: Now, I don’t have hard and fast figures on this, but I am willing to bet, based on personal observation, that at least 50% of people have much bigger, gas-guzzling cars than they need. Although I am off the road as a truck driver, I sometimes write articles on places I have visited, and this requires a certain amount of travel. All day long, whether in California or in Georgia, I see big SUV’s and trucks that only get a few miles to the gallon being driven by one person. I also see a lot of hot-looking, and sounding, cars that I know get really bad mileage. A lot of people drive these back and forth to work every day!

I was talking to a guy yesterday at a motel in Abilene. He’s going on a trip to the Grand Canyon with his kids. His truck gets 15 MPG! Where he is going, gas is hovering close to four dollars a gallon. If he only goes 1,000 miles each way, he needs 133 gallons. That comes out to about $500 just for gas at $3.75 a gallon. If he were to have a smaller, more fuel efficient car that got around 30 MPG, he could cut that in half. If he had my Toyota Prius, it would cost about $150.

How about commuting? Let’s imagine my new friend from the Abilene motel drives 10 miles to work each day. At 20 miles a day, that’s 140 miles a week. Since he’s probably going to get stuck in traffic sometimes, I’m just going to say that his average gas use is 14 MPG (easier math) and he needs 10 gallons of gas just to get back and forth to work each week. Let’s just say gas costs $3.00 a gallon. That’s $30 a week for gas just to get to work and back. Again, getting a smaller car with double the mileage would result in a $15 a week savings. That doesn’t sound like much until you think about it as an extra $60 a month (pay your water bill?), or $360 a year.

Oh yeah! With a Toyota Prius (Can you tell I like it?), he would save over $80 a month or $480 a year.

2. Keep your tires inflated properly: Proper tire inflation saves money on gas. One study conducted by the Rubber Manufacturers Association estimated that only 15% of drivers check their tire inflation properly. It is interesting to note, by the way, that the study also showed that more people check their tire pressure as gas prices go up! Not only can proper inflation save you money on gas, but it saves you money on tires themselves. Properly inflating your tires can help handling and cut down on wear and tear on steering components.

3. Slow down: Here’s a little fact for you – Fuel economy drops about 10 percent between 55 mph and 65 mph, and 17 percent between 55 mph and 70 mph. Do I really need to say more? Come on, tell the truth. How fast were you going on the Interstate this morning on your way to work?

Now, here’s what I see every day on the highways of America. One person driving a gas-guzzling SUV with at least two under inflated tires at a speed near or in excess of 70 MPH! Do I really need to belabor this point? Suffice it to say that adherence to points 2 and 3 would save this person a lot of money, and cut down on pollution and our dependence on foreign oil.

4. Pay attention: Try this on for size. I see this one all the time also.

Since I was not only an over-the-road driver but also an instructor, I used to teach students to “play the lights” and pay attention. How much gas your car needs to use is based largely on what you NEED it to do. Yesterday, as a few thousand times before, I was cruising down a road and saw the light about an eighth of a mile ahead turn red. I was going to have to stop anyway, so I took my foot off the accelerator. No sooner had I done so than the driver behind me (individual in a big SUV with an under inflated left rear tire) pulled out to the left, accelerated around me, pulled back in front and then accelerated a few more feet until he finally realized that the light was red and then slammed on his brakes. Guess how much gas he wastes every day.

Folks, it’s simple. Wherever you are going is probably NOT going to move before you get there! Pay attention to what is happening in front of you and around you. If you are going to have to stop anyway, why not slow down and stop rather than burning extra fuel to get to the stop faster?

A lot of that “pedal to the metal” kind of driving comes from stress. Also, studies have shown that driving like that raises your stress level even more. Take up meditation or try yoga. It will actually improve your driving.

5. Keep your car properly maintained: If your plugs are clean, your oil is changed regularly, and the car is lubed, you will get better gas mileage. The engine and connected parts will be able to work more effectively and efficiently, and this translates to more miles per gallon. By the way, most of the synthetic motor oils available today will help you save money on gas by allowing your car to run more efficiently for longer periods between oil changes. This is an extra savings, by the way. Although synthetic motor oils cost more per quart than petroleum based lubricants, they last much longer, resulting in savings in cost of the oil as well as savings in cost of the oil change if you are paying someone else to change your oil for you. You are also helping cut down on the use of our limited supply of oil.

Of course, these are not the only ways that you can save money on gas. You can carpool, find less congested routes to and from work and shopping, shop online instead of in a traffic jam, take turns driving kids to school, set it up with friends and neighbors to take turns running errands, combine errands into a single trip, or even learn to walk or bike short distances rather than driving. Hey, you might save money on healthcare with that last one, as walking or cycling around the neighborhood can help you with fitness, health, and weight loss, and that generally translates into fewer trips to the doctor, and fewer medications or medical procedures.

As they say in Germany, “Leb Wohl!”

Oh yeah! That means, “Live well!”

What a concept!

Author: Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer. He is a University of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa, and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. His interests include art, nature, animals, the environment, global warming, health, fitness, yoga, and weight loss. You may learn a little more about how to save money on gas at http://lube2005.com/information/fuel_economy.html/

Skyrocketing prices of petroleum-based fuels have made alternative fuel choices more attractive. At the same time, concerns over environmental issues have spurred a whole new industry – cars that run on alternative fuels. Unlike problematic conversion kits from the past, frequently home-grown contraptions assembled from plumbing parts, V.O. Tech’s Walter Little developed a sophisticated new system now being manufactured specifically for diesel engine conversions. Mr. Little’s clever design accomplishes all functions in one place which dramatically increases efficiency.

At the heart of this new system, the “Geo” (patent pending), is an all-in-one multi-function heating and filtering device that ensures fuel enters the engine at the correct temperature – the most important problem many older systems faced. The V.O. Tech system also includes a heated fuel tank, insulated fuel lines and is simple enough for anyone to use. The new system will let an engine operate with recycled cooking oil, new vegetable oil, traditional diesel fuel or blends – all at the choice of the driver! For more information, please visit www.VOTechUSA.com

Web Site = http://www.VOTechUSA.com

Contact Details = V.O. Tech, LLC
177 See Avenue
Mahopac, NY 10541 USA
Phone: 914-525-1015
Fax: 845-621-0797
email: votech@votechUSA.com
Website: www.VOTechUSA.com

• Follow a routine examination on the air pressure in the tire. A properly inflated tire will help to improve the mileage performance of your car. The pressure should be checked when the tire is cold, otherwise you may get a false high value. Wheel alignment is another ‘must to do’- don’t allow your car to lose its balance.

• Start slowing down your vehicle minutes before you reach the traffic lights so that you can avoid stopping at it before crossing. The fuel consumption for acceleration for a moving vehicle is comparatively lower than that is stopped.

• Never exceed the speed limit. It is thumb rule for all drivers, especially who wish to fly their vehicles on the highway. Driving above the speed limit will have a drastic impact on the mileage. A rash driving can reduce the gas mileage by about 30 percent at highway speeds and by 5 percent in city driving.

• Be on watch of the gas mileage. After every unusual driving, conduct an analysis on the performance of the engine as well as the gas mileage. It will help you improve your driving habits and understand your vehicle better.

• Avoid sudden brake and sudden acceleration. The sudden actions will cause more energy wastage. A smooth acceleration will give sufficient time to the engine to prepare itself for the move.

• Identify the right fuel for your engine. Follow the manufacture’s guidelines while selecting the fuel and also other necessary materials such as the lubricants. Compromising the quality of these will mean a heavy cost on the life of your cruise. Often fuels with detergent additives, which automatically clean the system, are preferred.

• Clean the air filters regularly to avoid blocking of the vents by the dirty soil or oil particles. Be attentive about the other engine parts also; regular lubrication and cleaning is the best thing you can do to your hybrid engines.

• Avoid running air conditioners unnecessarily. You know air conditioners cause a considerable waste of energy, of course. But there is more than just the energy loss about the working of air conditioners. When air conditioners are at action, they run on pulleys attached to the motor. Every time when the air conditioner is on action, it slows down the engine, and ultimately reduces the life of the engine. At highways, often the wind speed is high, and if you open the windows of the car, the wind pressure will resist the movement of the vehicle and in turn affect the performance of the engine. So better turn on your air conditioner at highways.

CNG contains a large percentage of methane (CH4) along with traces of other hydrocarbons. It is extracted from natural gas, which is produced by the decomposition of animal and plant wastes.

CNG as future fuel for vehicles promises a lot of benefits. Being a cleaner fuel than the petroleum fuels, CNG promises low emissions, and it can be compressed under high pressure, between 2000 and 3600psi making it easy to store in cylinders.

How does the world respond to CNG alternative? Worldwide examples show that the feasibility of using CNG in all types of vehicle is not under question. Argentina and Brazil are the two countries with maximum number of CNG vehicles, approximately 1,460,000 and 1,230,000 respectively. Here CNG is widely used in buses and trucks. Also a ‘Blue-network’ of CNG refilling stations is being developed on the major highways of Southern Cone of Latin America, including Chile and Bolivia. In the East, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India are the main players offering CNG fleet to their transport network. Pakistan is world’s third largest consumer of CNG. In the Middle East and Africa, Egypt tops with more than 63,000 CNG-run vehicles on its road.

The option of using CNG in cars has hit the market with many important players emerging with CNG-run vehicles. The Honda Civic GX is the first of its type. The Civic GX has been awarded as the cleanest internal combustion engine on the earth by the EPA. Another cool fact about the CNG cars is the possibility of refilling the gas from your own home. With the help of Phill, Honda offers this facility to its customers to get the fuel refilled from their home gas line.

The only hurdle in the use of CNG in vehicles is the cost of conversion of the engine. If proper support is offered by the public and private agencies in order to promote such an environmental-friendly fuel, consumers all around the world will be motivated to use this technolgoy, thus contributing to a cleaner environment and saving of fossil fuels. Already a scheme is on in the city of Santa Cruz allowing the CNG car owners to recover up to 60% of the conversion costs with the help of a ‘free-CNG’ vouchers offered to them. Apart from these, a lot of investment has to be made in the R& D along with creating awareness in the consumers about the necessity and viablility of converting their vehicles into a CNG one.

The new hybrid technology proved Diesel’s words exactly true. With a greener fuel available to replace the non-renewable diesel and petrol, the car manufacturers are working day and night exploring innovative technology to offer maximum efficiency with the environment-friendly recyclable fuel.

What is Bio-diesel? How is it used as an automobile fuel? These are the intriguing questions from the consumers all over the world. Biodiesel made easy – click here!

Bio-diesel is an alternative fuel made from the vegetable oils or animal fats, and it can be used as fuel in automobiles, alone or in a combination with other fuels. Bio-diesel was first produced by English scientist in 1853, and since its inception, it has been tried in many applications. But the auto manufactures had not been really serious about the bio-diesel till recently when the world faced new challenges like global warming and scarcity of fossil fuels that have taken many nations to the war front.

How does the bio-diesel solve the new challenges faced by the environment? Being an easily biodegradable fuel, any vegetable oil or animal fat does not offer any threat to the atmosphere or water into which it is disposed. Moreover, it does not contain any chemical elements such as sulphur or lead which is normally found in the fossil fuels. Moreover, the bio-diesel production is a biologically reversible process. The exhaust, i.e., the CO2 which is emitted by the combustion of these fuels can be reutilized for the production of these crops. Thus the cycle is repeated without causing any harm to the environment.

The reports show that more than 75 million gallons of bio-diesel were consumed in the US, in the year 2005. The consumers include the RFTA hybrid buses, which altogether contributed to a reduction of 10% of the total fuel consumption by its improved hybrid technology using the bio-diesel. The national Environmental Protection Agency has confirmed that bio-diesel contains 67% less unburned hydrocarbons, which are responsible for the pollution hazards such as smog and also contributes to the increase of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. However, it contains up to 10% more nitrogen oxides, a concern for smog.

The bio-diesel powered hybrid car Volkswagen Jetta TDI was set as an example by AutoWeek magazine for its best fuel economy under real-world driving conditions. Jetta TDI achieved an approximate 50 miles per gallon in the test drive by AutoWeek with its B20 bio-diesel (20% vegetable oil + 80% diesel), leaving behind the much talked about Toyota’s Prius, a gasoline-electric hybrid, with a 42 miles per gallon.

Alternative Energy Secrets! The Absolute Best Method Of Making Biodiesel At Home And Much More