Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Drive Smart: 10 Ways to Save Petrol and Money

Want to save 20% or more on fuel costs? Follow these 10 simple tips from the Consumer Federation of America.

Check Your Air Filter

A clean air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10%, and nearly one in four cars needs an air filter replacement.

Cost Savings: 28 cents a gallon.


Straighten Up

Poor alignment not only causes tires to wear out more quickly, but also forces your engine to work harder, which can reduce fuel economy by as much as 10%.

Cost Savings: 28 cents per gallon.


Tune Up

A properly tuned engine can improve mileage by 4%.

Cost Savings: 11 cents a gallon.


Pump 'em Up

More than one-quarter of vehicles have improperly inflated tires. The average under-inflation of 7.5 pounds causes a loss of 2.8% in fuel efficiency.

Cost Savings: 8 cents per gallon.


Check Your Cap

It is estimated that nearly 17% of cars on the road have broken or missing gas caps, which not only reduces gas mileage but may harm the environment.

Cost Savings: 2 cents per gallon.


Slow Down

For every 5 mph you reduce highway speed, you can reduce fuel consumption by 7%.

Cost Savings: 19 cents, by reducing speed from 70 mph to 65 mph.


Drive More Smoothly

The more smoothly you accelerate and decelerate, the better your gas mileage, with potential gas savings of 33% on the highway and 5% around town.

Cost Savings: 48 cents a gallon.


(Don't) Give Your Foot a Brake

Riding with your foot on the brake not only wears out brakes but can also increase gas consumption by as much as 35%.

Cost Savings: 96 cents per gallon.


Lighten Up

For every 100 extra pounds carried around, your vehicle loses 1 to 2% in fuel efficiency.

Cost Savings: 4 cents per gallon, per 100 pounds of weight removed.


Don't Be Idle

Besides causing pollution, idling wastes gas. If stopped for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine, and don't bother to 'warm up' your car before driving -- it is not necessary.

Cost Savings: 1 cent per gallon, for every two minutes you avoid idling.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Top Clean Car Fuel- Alternative to Petrol

When the automobile was new in 1900, there was no clear consensus which technology would triumph. Would it be gasoline, steam or electricity? The smart money was on electricity, which shows that the smart money can be wrong.

We're in a similar period now, trying to find what comes after the straightforward, gas-burning internal-combustion engine. There's still a lot of fog, and it's unlikely to clear soon. But from where I sit today, here are eight leading technologies, listed in priority order from most-likely to could-be-a-contender:

 saturn vue plug-in hybrid

1. Plug-In Hybrids. There's no question that plug-in hybrids, with 40-mile all-electric range and the ability to recharge from standard house current, will be on the market in the next two or three years. The leading (and only) mainstream players are General Motors (which plans on introducing a Saturn Vue plug-in hybrid) and Toyota (with an adapted Prius). Ambitious startups (Fisker, BYD) are also planning to field plug-in hybrids. The big challenge for all of them is developing a lithium-ion battery pack that can stand up to repeated discharge and recharge cycles and still demonstrate the longevity that today's nickel-metal-hydride hybrid battery packs have had. GM and Toyota talk about 2010 introductions, but battery development headaches could delay that.



 tesla roadster electric car

2. Battery Electrics. Again, it's all about the batteries. Lithium-ion is the current leader, but is it ready to carry four passengers in a fully featured, crashworthy sedan more than 200 miles? It's time to be cautiously optimistic. Nissan has plans to bring an electric car to the U.S. by 2010. Chrysler, which has been lagging in green technology, surprised the world by suddenly announcing a concept car known as the Dodge EV, a sports car with a lithium-ion battery pack. It claimed 150-mile range and blistering acceleration of zero to 60 in less than five seconds. Some Chrysler electric is to be on the market by 2010. The sports car was clearly aimed at the Tesla Roadster, a California-built $100,000 exotic which (like the Chrysler) sports a Lotus-designed body.



 chevy volt

3. Range Extenders. General Motors is making a big, bold step forward by building the Chevrolet Volt, with production slated for the end of 2010 (as a 2011 model). The Volt is something new: an electric car with a gas motor whose only function (it's not connected to the wheels) is to keep the electric motor spinning after the batteries are depleted. GM had this field (also known as "series hybrids") to itself, but Chrysler has jumped into the fray with range-extender versions of the Town and Country minivan and Jeep Wrangler. As with plug-in hybrids, 40 miles can be enjoyed in battery-only mode, but the gas engine extends that to 400 miles or more.



 toyota iq

4. Very Small Cars. It doesn't have to be a hybrid; in fact, some of our current hybrids, based on SUVs, are actually gas guzzlers. High fuel prices have created a strong American market for very small cars, and carmakers such as Ford have been emboldened to start selling in the U.S. tiny, fuel- and space-efficient cars once relegated only to Europe or Asia. Consider the Toyota iQ. The minuscule car is just 118 inches long, but can carry three adults (plus a child)! It reportedly achieves 60/51 mpg fuel economy. The Toyota of 10 years ago would never have contemplated selling iQs in the U.S., but now it is definitely being considered.



 honda fcx clarity fuel cell car

5. Fuel Cells. The joke is that the hydrogen revolution is always at least 10 years away. And, well, it's still at least that far in the future. But the possibilities are endless, since hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. Big drawbacks now are the cost of the fuel and, of course, the cars themselves. Hand assembled by Ph.Ds, fuel-cell cars are way too expensive to be ready for showrooms before 2020. The leading players are General Motors (which has the cutting-edge Sequel and a fleet of Equinox SUVs under test) and Honda (the ready-for-the-road FCX Clarity).



 olive oil

6. Salad Oil. Americans love the idea of running their cars on used fryer drippings. And the technology totally works. Companies such as Massachusetts-based Greasecar have found a niche converting diesels to run on 100 percent biofuel. The problem is standardizing and ramping up the technology so we could seriously make a dent in gasoline power. We simply don't have enough available farmland to run our transportation fleet on soybean-derived oil, and there aren't enough fryers to greatly expand what is now a small cottage industry.



 bmw hydrogen 7 car

7. Liquid Hydrogen. BMW's Hydrogen 7 is a very impressive car, quiet and powerful. Its 12-cylinder engine will burn gasoline all day, but push a button and it switches without a hitch to a tankful of energy-dense liquid hydrogen. You can drive it anywhere. But things get complicated after that. Hydrogen is expensive to begin with, and it liquefies at -423 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning a super-cooled cryogenic tank is obligatory. Leave the car alone for too long (parked for a week at an airport, say) and much of the hydrogen will return to a gaseous state and vent out. The big challenges: affordable hydrogen production and liquification; easy refueling; and answering safety questions.


8. Ethanol. GM and Ford are world leaders in producing "flex-fuel" vehicles that can run on ethanol or gasoline. Millions have been produced, but most run on gasoline most of the time because of a still-embryonic ethanol station network. Cornell professor David Pimentel claims that ethanol has a net negative energy balance, which the industry heatedly denies. And there's the ramp-up question, too. According to Pimentel, if we converted 100 percent of the U.S. corn crop to ethanol, it would only replace six percent of current fossil fuel use. Because corn is in high demand, prices for it are escalating, creating a "food vs. fuel" controversy. Cellulosic ethanol, produced from plant fiber, has a much higher energy potential, but research is still embryonic.

42% of Asian children are not concerned about environmental protection

In a study conducted by TNS, children aged 3 to 9 in four Asian countries (China, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand) were asked on their level of concern about the need for environmental protection. The results are shown below:
  • Very concerned - 15%
  • Somewhat concerned - 43%
  • Not very concerned - 32%
  • Not at all concerned - 10%

The study results suggest that 42% of children in Asia are not very or not at all concerned about the need for environmental protection. This is in contrast to the children’s mothers, who are 95% concerned about the need for environmental protection. Why do a high percentage of our future generation not care about the environment?

Perhaps we are just too harsh on them. They are still young and innocent to understand the need for protecting the environment. Or they do know the need but are more concerned about other things such as schoolwork, toys and computer games or just about having fun.

Regardless of the reasons, there is a need for parents to educate their children and raise awareness about the environment. Since parents know more about the need to protect the environment (as shown in the high 95% concern), they should be the role models and educate our future generation.


Plastic Bottle Label and the meaning

Did you ever drink from a plastic bottle and see a triangle on the bottom with a number?

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE NUMBER STANDS FOR?

DID YOU GUESS IT'S JUST FOR RECYCLING?

THE NUMBERS TELLS YOU THE CHEMICAL MAKE UP OF THE PLASTIC....

1. PET - Polythene terephalate
2. HDPE - High density polythylene
3. PVC - Polyviny Choloride
4. LDPE OR PELD - Low Density polythylene
5. PP - Polypropylene
6. PS - Polystrylene
7. OTHER OR O - All other resins and multi materials not otherwise defined.

THE WORST ONES ARE NOS 3,6 and 7..