Green Options

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The young man with his firetruck has apparently done it! He’s created a system that converts water to hydrogen gas that’ll run that fire engine, and your car.

His name is James Hunt, I wrote about him and his invention last year. Now, from his AKVO Energy headquarters in Monmouth, Illinois, James talks about his invention and says it’s ready for manufacture and marketing.

james-hunt.mp3

He refers to a series of videos […]

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/2P8YsP6qJSE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Put six-gallons of water in your fuel tank and drive anywhere you wish. The only thing you’ll need to replace, is a bit more water.

Last May, I wrote about Jim Hunt, a student at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois concerning his plasmatic induction system that turns water into hydrogen gas to fuel your vehicle.

Today, the system works, and Jim is looking for a company to manufacture and market his invention. His patent is secure, the system is proven and now ready to produce.

Car buyers are thinking small.

Auto sales in the U.S. during the last three months have been down, except for the smaller, cheaper and not-so-thirsty cars, with starting prices from $12,000 to $14,000, according to Autodata.

The Toyota Yaris led sales with a 70% increase, Honda’s Fit sales were up 61%, and Kia’s Spectra saw a 41% increase in sales. While the percentages are impressive, the number of cars sold is not large.

The words ‘green’ and ‘Hummer’ don’t usually occur together, except when compiling a complete list of oxymorons. But earlier today at the Saab/Hummer press conference, GM debuted it’s concept H-X Hummer, calling it the “Green Hummer”. The new model is smaller, lighter, and intended for a younger demographic, with the added capability of running on E85 ethanol. It also has an interesting modular construction that allows you to reconfigure the cab at will. Martin Walsh, General Manager of the brand, told us that the new model could get mileage in the mid-20s (although no hard numbers were available).

Ok, this isn’t exactly the 60 mpg Hummer I’ve mentioned before, but that’s a 10 mpg increase in efficiency over previous models. To be honest, it also looks a lot less like a Hummer, being smaller and sportier-more like a lunar explorer than the H2 (that’s my take). But Mr. Walsh said Hummers will continue to decrease in size as customers demand greater fuel efficiency and continue to voice environmental concerns.

Thinking about ‘converting’ to biodiesel?
It’s not as hard as you think.

This series of posts is intended for readers looking to start using biodiesel by finding an older diesel vehicle, ‘converting it’, and then finding a local fuel source.

Before embarking on a biodiesel adventure, it may be a good idea to determine whether biodiesel is available in your area (it probably is), and most importantly, whether or not it’s conveniently located. While some of us are willing to go to great lengths to find and use alternatives to petroleum-based fuels, this isn’t practical for everyone.

For information on how to find biodiesel, see 6 Ways To Find And Use Biodiesel Anywhere, and for more background you may want to get started with the Biodiesel Mythbuster. This post is primarily focused on buying a used diesel, but it should be helpful to anyone interested in using biodiesel.

Finding Your First Biodiesel Car (or Truck)

It’s important to understand that any diesel engine can run on any blend of biodiesel with no major conversion. In older vehicles, it’s not a bad idea to change out fuel lines (biodiesel eats rubber over time), but don’t let anyone convince you that this is difficult or expensive (more on this later). First, let’s find your first biodiesel vehicle:

Step 1: Determine Your Needs