The Green LiterEveryone's going green!

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!

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

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

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!

Proper calculation as far as the right amount of fuel to allow cars to accelerate is known to be a problem these days. Especially with the rising cost of fuel, wise driving starts from realizing our faults in driving our cars. There is no perfect driver, only wiser ones. While some love speed, it also means using up fuel the unconventional way.

Nissan for its part, has developed a keen contraption that can help drivers improve their manner of driving and fuel consumption. With this indicator in tow, people who are having trouble as far as maintaining the proper efficiency level of fuel consumption may finally get a break.

The technology involved is simple – when the ECO Pedal is on, the system calculates a threshold of accelerator pedal travel depending on the prevailing driving conditions. A counter push-back control system is activated when the pedal is depressed beyond the threshold level and along with a eco-driving indicator in the instrument cluster, informs the driver of his driving behaviour.

Source

In perhaps what is a piece of good news over the last couple of months, countries such as Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea are contemplating on reducing oil prices soon. This is considering the current oil prices continue to decrease though. In the past weeks, the global price of oil in the market has been falling and this is good news for the world that has to survive in these hard times of high oil prices.

But while that is a great sign, local distributors still have the last say. There are some local oil companies that have been thinking twice about on whether to cut down oil prices since they are still wary of deficits and losses to which they would want to make up for. The thing is, are these claims legitimate enough to hang on to the current oil prices?

Consumers have called for government intervention to make necessary measures in auditing the books of these local oil distributors. Apparently it seems that this is the logical way to go to certify the claims that they are indeed on the red. And while that is the case, don’t expect the consumers to be as understanding.

On the side of developing alternative fuel, they should not stop. Providing alternative source of fuel is something that can still be beneficial regardless if the current oil prices do go down to manageable levels for consumers. Biodiesel and ethanol alternative still pose a good choice for people especially since they are a lot cheaper and may even cost less once regular oil sets its mark to normal.

Malaysia may reduce fuel prices in the weeks ahead if global oil prices continue to fall, a senior finance ministry official said Thursday.

The government hiked petrol prices 41 percent in June to ease the burden of spiralling energy subsidies, but crude oil prices have fallen around 20 dollars from record highs above 147 dollars per barrel hit earlier in July.

The official said “if oil prices remain between 120 dollars a barrel and 125 dollars a barrel for two weeks,” then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi could announce a cut in fuel costs in the weeks ahead.

Source

If you think private vehicle owners are the only ones who are being hit by the oil crisis, guess again. Even truckers are feeling the pinch of the oil hikes and this will eventually affect the market of consumer goods. Truckers are responsible for transporting goods from one state to another and with oil prices continuing to go beyond manageable prices, transportation costs are sure to escalate as well. And we all know that once that happens, the cost of consumer goods are bound to follow.

In fact, truckers have brought this issue to the attention of the Bush administration, calling for a comprehensive energy plan to ensure that there will be sufficient oil supply to be made available for trucking that play an integral role in the world of consumerism.

“This is a big problem that requires a big solution,” Windsor said. “Trucking delivers America. Trucks transport virtually 100 percent of groceries, medicine, clothing, appliances and even the fuel that’s pumped at the local gas station. Rising fuel prices not only hurt the trucking industry, but the entire American economy.”

Source

But is it all in the hands of the government? Supplying oil is one thing but the groups responsible for stocking and distributing oil is something that will surely need to be addressed as well. The government can rant and intervene all they want but eventually it will be up to the oil companies.

We feel the effects of oil prices rising these days. Consumer goods are rising beyond sane levels and apparently this has been something that any average consumer is dreading. Its not like companies have a choice. Transportation costs are included in bringing products towards the supermarket shelves for consumers to buy. In all of this, transportation is important to distribute products in the marketing mix. But with fuel becoming a problem in bringing these goods to the proper markets, one can imagine when consumer goods will have their share of distribution problems in the long run.

One month after the crude oil prices reached an all-time high per barrel price, we are slowly witnessing the incremental decline in pricing which is something that will surely bring a big sigh of relief to people who are getting worried about the rising cost of gasoline and petroleum products. But while they are eyesores, it remains that no one can remain complacent. This should be seen as a temporary reprieve as another price spike can occur anytime.

The development of hybrid cars, ethanol fuel and biofuel should not stop. Groups which had already started out with them must continue the developing of these alternative fuel products if we are to be prepared the next time that this may happen.

Apparently, there are issues such as compatibility to the car engines we have. Hybrid cars are a great recourse but seriously, you don’t really think everyone can afford one in lieu of their old hand cars. It should be remembered that while these cars are seen as alternatives, they can also be heavy on the pocket. And by this I guess we are all aware that the crisis does not cover oil prices alone. They cover consumer goods and services that we all need in everyday living.

This is what we can consider a chain reaction of sorts. Oil may be categorized towards that of industrial and personal transportation areas. But taken as a whole, they are interrelated. Affecting one part of the economic mix hampers the other and may not recover for some time. So to avoid a sudden burst in the long run, it would be best to be ready. We had already started developing the alternative fuel so we should stick to it and keep it handy. We just never know when another crisis may befall since they occur at times consumers least expect it.