The Green LiterEveryone's going green!

Many of us interested in stretching each liter of fuel as far as it goes would probably consider RVs as the least appealing mode of transportation and living because of the perceived notion that RVs are gas guzzlers. Sure, how could these big behemoths not be guzzling gas with their size and heft. But one trend that has been up-and-coming these past years is the concept of the green RV. It has even been featured on the New York Times.

Suddenly, RVs are not so bad for the ecosystem, after all.

It starts with willpower and willingness to go back to the roots of one’s love for the recreational vehicle–traveling and the outdoors. When you pack your bags and drive off on your RV, you essentially embrace the nomadic lifestyle (whether for good, or temporary is up to you). Isn’t it high time you tried to give back to nature instead of just taking everything for yourself?

RVs usually go eight miles per gallon. But with RVs that use biofuels, solar panels, and hybrid technology, the hope is that mileage is extended, and RVs become more environmentally-friendly. With water-collection technologies and recycling facilities (such as turning used cooking oil into fuel), we may have hope yet for the future!

It doesn’t even involve having to buy a brand new, hybrid RV, which can come at quite a steep price. A lot of innovative individuals are just snapping up used RVs for sale and converting these to become greener–and more valuable.

Remember, going the green mile is not only about looking into the usual green lifestyles. Rather, it’s also about looking into how you can make existing lifestyles greener through various innovative means.

AutoJab comments on how the Oxford Dictionary has chosen the word “hypermiling” as word of the year.

The word came about in 2004 and it was coined by Wayne Gerdes. Hypermiling is the act of making adjustments to one’s car or one’s driving methods, adjustments geared towards maximizing fuel-efficiency and fuel economy. This entails pushing gas tanks to the limit to achieve ‘hypermileage’ that exceeds EPA ratings for miles per gallon.

Observing speed limits, steering clear of hills and avoiding congested traffic, removing unneeded cargo for lesser weight—these are just some of the methods employed by hypermilers all over the world.

I know hypermiling sometimes entails excessively stingy driving habits, which include freewheeling (dangerous!), turning off the air conditioner (uncomfortable), to using lower grade fuel (sometimes harmful to the engine).

The hypermiling movement has been criticized for its alleged promotion of driving tactics that are considered dangerous or illegal, such as overinflating tires, rolling through stop signs, and following closely behind large vehicles to cut down on wind resistance.

But I think that hypermiling should essentially mean being conscious of your driving habits such that you save on fuel. There are perhaps both good sides and bad sides to it.

Are you a hypermiler? Or do you at least try to drive with fuel efficiency in mind? Tell us how you save up on gas!

Oil prices are plunging, hopefully back to normal but that doesn’t mean that we should stop finding alternative fuel such as this one being used in Vietnam named Gasohol.

For the record, Gasohol is a combination of Ethanol and Petrol. We can fell a sigh of relief as far as the continued downward trend of the oil price is concerned but you never know when they can go up again. We have seen LPG, Biofuel and other forms of ethanol or alternative fuel that are being introduced in the market and if we are wise, we should keep our options open.

Waiting for another unruly fuel price hike is not exactly the best position we may find ourselves in and if we value our convenience as far as transportation is concerned, then we should do what the Vietnamese people are doing as well.

PV Oil, a PetroVietnam subsidiary, announced on Monday that Gasohol E5 will be provided on a pilot basis in the districts of Dong Da and Cau Giay at VND16,500 ($1) per liter – VND500 and VND1,000 cheaper than A92 and A95 petrol respectively.

Gasohol E5, which is five percent ethanol and 95 percent gasoline, is produced by the PetroVietnam Biofuel Joint Stock Co., an affiliate of PV Oil. This fuel is cost-effective, eco-friendly and safe for engines, PV Oil says.

Source

Here is a good solution that you may want to look out for if you are hesitant on changing your car with the hybrids and electrical cars that are being offered in the market today. But what if you had the choice to own an engine that can be flexible and run on any type of fuel? Well if you are asking if there is such a thing, yes there is!

It is called an Omnivorous engine, an automobile engine that Wallner and his colleagues have tailored to efficiently run on blends of gasoline, ethanol and butanol.

Now wouldn’t that be something? Imagine no longer worrying about the usual issues of rising oil prices and also finding ways to beat the issues of having to run a car on a limited basis. This can certainly be the best solution one could ever dream of.

Unlike regular automobile engines, which typically run solely on gasoline or, in rare instances, on a blend of gasoline and ethanol, the omnivorous engine would be able to run on any blend of conventional gasoline, ethanol or butanol, another organic alcohol that scientists are beginning to consider as a potential biofuel. Even more significantly, the omnivorous engine would use a suite of sensors to calibrate itself so that it burns available fuel as efficiently as possible.

Source

The re-introduction of the diesel fuelled Nissan X-Trail in Japan is bound to receive some howls from the global warming groups as it has been reported that due to expected higher gas prices, this is an alternative that Nissan has offered to them. But is it?

Diesel is not that far off different from the price of leaded and unleaded gasoline. In fact, you can see from all parts of the world the diesel is being condemned due to the gas emissions that it is bound to create. While it is apparent that most people would want an alternative solution to their transport problems, it remains that this is not among those alternative that a wise transport owner may consider.

This move is expected to add more problems for the environment rather than a solution to the people. From another standpoint, one may even conclude that this new entry of Nissan vehicles may even be considered as a form of just trying to dispose excess vehicles, which hopefully will not be the case.

“Japanese people hate diesels. They think of them as being noisy, dirty and emitting black smoke,” said Koji Endo, a senior analyst at Credit Suisse Group in Tokyo. “Diesels have improved significantly, but it’s questionable whether consumers will accept them.”

Source

Everyone is rejoicing these days as the crude oil prices are slowly going back down. But if you compare it to the first time that they started their upward trend, you will find that they are still way off from the affordable prices we all enjoyed back then.

The call has been to look for alternative fuel or perhaps shift to the electric powered cars. But what makes us so sure that once these efforts would still be continued as oil prices are on the decline?

For one, attention will surely be shifted on analyzing and waiting the downward trend of oil prices. But while that is something that analysts would surely love, the effort for alternative fuel and means of transportation should not be stopped. The current situation should not be a means for us to consider that everything is going back to normal.

Just as quickly as the oil prices spiked, the same can be said for the current oil price decline. It may hit us at a time we least expect it and perhaps even become worse than what we initially experienced. With that in mind, we may even find ourselves going back to square one, maybe even back to nothing as far as alternative measures are concerned.

One thing consumers are wondering these days is why the oil company giants are taking their sweet time adjusting their current gasoline prices despite the dramatic decrease in the world market. While government intervention seems to be useless, the conclusion is that they are dilly dallying to be able to make up for losses from previous years. Is that ethical?

Surely, auditing their financial records is not expected to help. For one, it is easy to maintain two sets of financial statements, one which is false and the other as the real and authentic one. Of the two, it is obvious that the former will be the one used as many businessmen want to avoid being reprimanded or penalized if found to be guilty of taking advantage of the situation.

As far as the government is concerned, perhaps this is one instance where they can show the validity of being recognized into power. Major players are taking advantage of the situation and hopefully this can be corrected.

Source

If you are happy at the current trends of weekly oil price drops, better make some provisions for potential price hikes once again no thanks to the continued political indicators that have stemmed from wars in countries like Russia and Georgia. The United States is at it again and while the conflict has already been elevated to the United Nations, there is no telling what courses of action that President Bush may suddenly create and once again put us into crisis.

At the moment, the debacle in Russia seems to be stabilizing but do consider the fact that this is only one piece of the problem. Further issues such as eventual shortage of actual resources and oil hoarding are bound to ensue. So if you think it is time to close the alternative fuel developments around the world, doing so would place us in worst situations.

“I don’t think it will go down below $100 for very long,” said Christopher Ruppel, an energy analyst at Execution LLC, a broker and research firm for institutional investors like hedge and mutual funds. “Once you go down too low, you’ll shut down new production, and prices will go right back up.”

Source

Thanks to the decrease in oil prices in the world market, SUV owners are given a reprieve as far as having to look for alternative forms of transportation. Apparently, not all people have to resort towards looking for alternative modes of transportation these days but this should not be a means to breathe freely. The oil prices these days are still way off to the standard price and by all means they are not stabilized.

So in this scenario, what does a SUV owner do? Apparently he should still try to conserve as much as possible and continue the preservation efforts he did prior to the constant oil price hikes. By all means, there is no telling on whether the prices will spike up again. For now, it would be best to play it safe. By all indications, we are far off from enjoying the traditional oil prices to which most of these SUVs came about.

If you haven’t been reading the news lately, the oil price in the crude oil market are slowly going down. But while that may seem good news, you may be wondering why the local fuel companies are not doing the same as far as oil price rollbacks are concerned.

One of the things is because they are making sure that the price rollbacks are for real and not just a sudden turn of events. Indeed it would make sense. Decreasing prices for a week and then jumping them up again can drive the consumers crazy. But in all, assigned analysts should be able to note if such market fluctuations would arise and hence be a cause for another round of price hikes that can be a cause for alarm.

As far as the current trends of the oil prices are concerned, the way things are going seems to be a big sigh of relief.

On another note, it is also about trying to regain losses from the series of price increases that had to be done. One thing you should note is that losses during the transition stages and delays of price hikes are high. They are not just a matter of loose change. Imagine the number of consumers in need of fuel and you can determine how much was lost.

But proper auditing of their books should be done. Some may be abusing and using this as a ploy to profit which is entirely foul. Consumers have moved on by taking alternative measures but this does not mean that they don’t care about stabilizing fuel and oil prices. Just like most people they would want to use their own means of transportation once again and use the standard way once more.

Let us hope that oil companies do not use this as a means of earning from changing trends. If auditing shows they are, such a shameful act should be penalized!