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Tony's Guide to Fuel saving |
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Saving fuel in your car (and home) Fuel saving is an increasingly important topic. The price of energy, in particular fossil fuel, is inevitably on a long-term upward path (even if it is currently relatively low), while the global recession means everyone has less money to spare. Fuel bills - whether for the home or for the car - take up an ever-increasing proportion of people's budgets. Equally, while there is still some debate about the details, the evidence for man-made climate change effects (global warming) becomes stronger every year. And even if global warming is not a reality, it is absolutely certain that there is only a finite amount of oil in the world - the more we use, the sooner prices will soar as the easily-extracted reserves are used up. So whether it is for environmental reasons, or just perfectly reasonable self-interest, most people want to cut down on their use of oil-based fuel - be it automotive petrol (gasoline) or diesel, or fuel for the home. As a professional automotive engineer, I have put these pages together to give some advice on how to save fuel, and how not to waste your money on products of dubious effectiveness.
Almost since the car was invented, people have been offering miracle devices that allegedly give greatly improved fuel consumption. None have ever been rigorously proved to give worthwhile savings, yet hundreds of products of this type are still widely sold - especially on the Internet, where they are free from regulation. As a professional automotive engineer with many years' experience developing improved-economy engines, I have become increasingly annoyed by the half-truths and sometimes downright lies told by many makers and sellers of such devices, to part customers from their hard-earned cash. This section explains the engineering reality behind the claims.
There are ways you can genuinely save money on fuel - firstly by simple changes to your driving style, which cost little or nothing, secondly (and more effectively) by choosing a more economical vehicle. You can also find some thoughts on fuel-saving technologies of the future, which may be of interest. More information here. The average European car produces around 3000 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, and the fuel costs around £1000. The average northern European house produces about 6000 kg, and the fuel costs £500+. So whether you are interested in environment-friendliness or saving money, making your home more economical is just as important as making your car more economical. And there are plenty of things you can do to save energy at home, which will pay for themselves in just a few years. Here are some ideas, and useful links.
People often ask my advice on all kinds of aspects of car engines - tuning and "chipping", maintenance, use of "premium" fuels like Optimax, etc. It's not really what this site was set up for, but there's some information here anyway.
My blog - latest developments
Independence: The information on these pages is presented in good faith and as a public service. I receive no payment for this site from oil companies, car manufacturers, or any other "vested interest". Copyright: All information on this site is copyright and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without my permission. (This is so I can ensure there is one, definitive copy of the information, rather than because I want to suppress anything.) Where other people's copyright information is presented on this site, it falls within the Fair Use guidelines, although anyone who objects to this use should of course send me an email so we can discuss changing/removing the item. Linking to this site is however very welcome, either on your own page (if it is relevant) or on discussion groups / bulletin boards. If you see people criticising these pages on bulletin boards, please tell me - either I have made a genuine error (in which case I need to fix it) or perhaps I need to explain something better. Either way, if I don't know I can't do anything about it. Lawyers: please see the legal notice. Biography: a bit of information about me, and what makes me qualified to comment on these subjects, can be found here. Contact information is here. Feedback is always very welcome, even if negative - I have researched these pages carefully, but of course there may be some mistakes. Please point these out to me, so they can be corrected for the benefit of others. How you can help: see the support page.
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