Cheap Alternative Fuel is on the Rise

At over $134/barrel, the price of oil in 2008 smeared a greater film of disgust across the planet than the Exxon Valdez incident. The rise in the cost of fuel is not only draining the pockets of consumers, it is causing drivers to use desperate measures in efforts to avoid the pain of expelling precious, hard earned dollars through their exhaust pipes.

With no light at the end of the "funnel," and with fuel skyrocketing to ridiculous costs, consumers are now forgoing the pump in favor of some unconventional, and bizarre methods to reduce fuel spending. Alternative fuels, inventive driving techniques, modifying engines, and doing away with gas-guzzling engines altogether are slowly gathering momentum as soaring oil prices threaten to take away every ounce of freedom that was once associated with driving one's own vehicle.

Fuel - Now With Fewer Calories!

Most recently, the Web has been inundated with fuel saving strategies to stretch out visits to the pump. For the mechanically inclined, blueprints are now being made available online to modify engines to run partially on water - that is, a "water hybrid fuel tank" that feeds the engine a diet version of regular fuel. Moreover, alternative fuels are readily coming out of the woodwork that promise all the flavor, with half the fat of regular oil. Not only are these substitute fuels promising to operate vehicles efficiently and effectively, many of them also pledge to save the environment from the detrimental effects of their fossil fuel counterparts.

Alternative fuel sources include Ethanol (corn byproduct), Biodiesel (derived from vegetable oils), Natural Gas, Propane and the ever abundant, Hydrogen. With the growing media attention on substitute fuel sources, the world is quickly learning that oil is only one of many combustible fuels that are readily available to consumers.

How Drivers Can Cut Back on Fuel Consumption -Today

Consumers can begin to reduce fuel consumption almost immediately, by maintaining vehicle engines with regular turn ups, refraining from unnecessary idling, avoiding riding the brake and clutch, and by turning off the car's engine completely at long stop lights. Avoid quick take-offs and hard breaks, and tighten up the fuel cap so fumes won't evaporate while driving. Last but not least, keep the junk out of the trunk (extra weight will decrease your vehicle's metabolism), and avoid reaching for your "a/c fix," and expend some body energy instead by rolling down the windows.

Dylan Was a Soothsayer...

So consumers are saving the environment by making some adjustments, but a new form of deviant is blatantly protesting the enviro-fuel diet by practicing what is known as gas gluttony (binging at the pump and fleeing the scene without paying). To prevent these pump-and-run scenarios, petrol stations are beginning to enforce a "pay before you pump" rule, which, with oil prices continuing to soar, will most certainly be standard at all North American gas stations by 2009.

But cheer up - with the pumps now being locked due to clandestine protesters and deviants, it is not all doom and gloom. At least now we finally know what Bob Dylan meant by, "The pump don't work 'cause the vandals took the handles."