I wanted to write about this because I’m a Christian who cares about God’s Creation, the environment. I loved cars as a kid, and still do, though my taste has changed. I like to see how many mpg’s I can get instead of how fast I can go. For me, it saves money – yes, but it also takes care of God’s creation because it makes me conscious of trying to leave the smallest possible taint on God’s creation.

The reason this trick works is twofold. 1) The EPA hwy test incorporates some stops and acceleration, while cruising down the interstate does not. 2) Cruise control is much more precise than your foot. It can adjust the throttle at the computer level, which is much more precise than your foot (unless you have a scangauge).

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“Excrement flushed down the lavatories of just 70 homes is enough to power the car for 10,000 miles – the equivalent of one average motoring year.

This conversion technology has been used in the past but the Bio-Bug is Britain’s first car to run on methane gas without its performance being reduced.

It can power a conventional two litre VW Beetle convertible to 114mph.” -by Laura Roberts

You’d think someone would smell the difference…

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These engineers in Tennessee have come up with their own hybrid system. I am constantly amazed at what engineers can come up with (I should be, I come from a long line of professional engineers). But, this idea is just awesome.

I hope that within 10 years, add-on hybrid kits are available for just about any car. They would only require at most 200lbs of weight – which is like one passenger (of my size). So, the weight is not an issue.

Just like grassroots racing helped advance technology by coming up with inventive ideas, perhaps grassroots hybrid conversions will move the industry forward by showing that low cost, simple systems can be quite effective.

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Click here to go to the map.

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No, I don’t drive a Prius, though I wish I did… My Accord works just fine.

At the request of my brother Matthew, I will describe my recent hypermiling endeavors. I learned about hypermiling in mid June, and tried it out immediately on a drive down to Waco (about 100mi from me). I was amazed at the gas mileage I was able to achieve by doing some simple things. On my first attempt for a whole tank, I was able to beat the EPA’s estimate for fuel economy by 10%. That meant that instead of getting just under 28mpg, I was getting a little over 30mpg.

The real fun has come now that I have started to really learn the techniques. I was recently able to achieve 38mpg for my entire trip to Alabama and back (1400mi). This is a huge accomplishment for me, considering my car should only get 30mpg on the highway. I was able to increase my mileage by 30%!! So, if you had a car that could normally get 40mpg, you could easily (in my estimation) get 52mpg… and so on, ad nauseaum…

The techniques can be found online in several places. A technical description can be found here, and a more easily readable description can be found here. The main techniques that I have found helpful are:

1) driving slower. Instead of driving 80mph I drive the speed limit OR LOWER. They say 55mph is the best for your vehicle’s fuel economy, however this IS NOT ALWAYS possible due to traffic. Be careful. You should drive in the right-hand lane if you are hypermiling, to avoid causing road rage.

2) coasting more. I now coast as much as possible, only using the accelerator when necessary. My car is not harmed by sliding the transmission into neutral, but yours might be so check it out first. Coasting in neutral down a big hill can really save some gas. Putting the car into neutral may not be legal in your area…. However, even a gentle slope can allow you to stay at the proper speed while coasting. Once you have mastered that…

3) turn the engine off. At red lights, in the parking lot, etc. Maybe even while coasting downhill or up to a redlight… be careful and only do it if you know it is legal and not harmful to you.

4) turn off the A/C. In Texas, you can’t do it much in the summer. But if you turn you’re A/C off every five minutes or so, you can still save gas. A/C can cost you 10% of your fuel efficiency.

5) Pulse and Glide. I’m still working on this one. The idea is to accelerate up to speed, then shift into neutral and glide back to about 10mph slower. Then accelerate back up to speed and repeat. Only attempt this when you are not going to cause traffic behind you to become enraged. I was able to coast about 1/4mi on flat highway last week each time.

6) the really good guys buy a device called a scangauge and track their Fuel efficiency like crazy. I’m not quite there yet. Mainly, because I don’t have the cash after buying a new camcorder.

That’s it, you too can get better fuel efficiency, and perhaps even emit less carbon!! It saves money too!! Win – win situation!!

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