Gasoline Costs Rise, Scientists Scramble For Alternatives
Dan Blair
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Impact Staff Blogs
MARCH 6 - The day has finally come; with gasoline prices on the rise and advances in technology, it was only a matter of time before scientists would find a way to eliminate gasoline from the equation all together.
The gas crisis in the 80s ended the muscle car age of big American V8 motors and allowed imported four cylinder cars to hit the mainstream and eventually control the automotive market. These years spawned the idea of making fuel efficient cars to save the consumer money on gas, while helping to become more environmentally friendly. Emission standards became more strict and American was flooded with new compact cars, that is, until every household unnecessarily owned an SUV. These gas guzzling vehicles have only been dominating the market over the last ten years, but with gas prices close to four dollars a gallon, a change was imminent.
The first change was developing a hybrid vehicle. It runs on gasoline and electricity, and is much better for the environment. Itís concept is simple, it uses a battery when the car is at idle and switches to using gasoline when the car needs the power.
Modern advances in hybrids use the energy from vehicle braking and convert it to charge the battery. Some hybrids only use half of the cylinders during regular driving and only activate all cylinders when the driver fully steps on the gas pedal.
Honda has always been a front runner in hybrid technology since they came out with the Insight in 1999, which allowed the driver to have over 40 miles per gallon. Now, Honda has a Civic hybrid that costs around 22 thousand dollars, which is pricy for a Civic, but it gets over 45 miles per gallon.
Toyota has always rivaled Honda with their Prius. Released in Japan in 1997, the Prius has dominated the world market, and is now the most efficient car in the United States as of 2008. It is almost a thousand dollars cheaper than the Civic hybrid, though the appearance may not be as appealing to the eye as the Honda. That can be solved by their hybrid Camry or their hybrid Highlander all ranging from the mid to high 20 thousand dollar range to low 30 thousand dollars.
The gas crisis in the 80s ended the muscle car age of big American V8 motors and allowed imported four cylinder cars to hit the mainstream and eventually control the automotive market. These years spawned the idea of making fuel efficient cars to save the consumer money on gas, while helping to become more environmentally friendly. Emission standards became more strict and American was flooded with new compact cars, that is, until every household unnecessarily owned an SUV. These gas guzzling vehicles have only been dominating the market over the last ten years, but with gas prices close to four dollars a gallon, a change was imminent.
The first change was developing a hybrid vehicle. It runs on gasoline and electricity, and is much better for the environment. Itís concept is simple, it uses a battery when the car is at idle and switches to using gasoline when the car needs the power.
Modern advances in hybrids use the energy from vehicle braking and convert it to charge the battery. Some hybrids only use half of the cylinders during regular driving and only activate all cylinders when the driver fully steps on the gas pedal.
Honda has always been a front runner in hybrid technology since they came out with the Insight in 1999, which allowed the driver to have over 40 miles per gallon. Now, Honda has a Civic hybrid that costs around 22 thousand dollars, which is pricy for a Civic, but it gets over 45 miles per gallon.
Toyota has always rivaled Honda with their Prius. Released in Japan in 1997, the Prius has dominated the world market, and is now the most efficient car in the United States as of 2008. It is almost a thousand dollars cheaper than the Civic hybrid, though the appearance may not be as appealing to the eye as the Honda. That can be solved by their hybrid Camry or their hybrid Highlander all ranging from the mid to high 20 thousand dollar range to low 30 thousand dollars.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 12
Nicole
posted 4/23/08 @ 12:05 AM EST
Good article except, the water based fuel cell supposedly invented by Stanley Meyer has a basic physics flaw, violating the first law of thermodynamics as a perpetual motion machine. (Continued…)
francisjames
posted 9/26/08 @ 3:21 PM EST
The price for self-service 95 octane gasoline is up 0.3 percent to NIS 6.69 per liter, the National Infrastructures Ministry said Sunday. Self-service refueling for 96 octane gasoline rose 0. (Continued…)
Justine Clarke
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Teresa Carder
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Stumbo Fitzmorris
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Chris Brennan
posted 11/07/09 @ 2:24 AM EST
The primary reason for the rising cost of oil is financial speculation. This has been admitted by financier George Soros in the London telegraph during the last oil bubble in may. (Continued…)
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