These days it seems like every other headline has to do with the high price of gas. This one from The New York Times caught my eye: Greased Lightening, an op-ed by a young man who converted his car to run on biodiesel fuel.
People are desperate for alternatives to the high price of gas. Even my brother has mentioned that he’s thinking of altering his car to run on biodiesel fuel (AKA - french-fry grease). My father sent away for a manual on how to make his car run on hydrogen extracted from water. Apparently, it’s not that hard to convert your car to run on restaurant grease and a lot of people have done it, but I’m not sure about the simplicity of the water/hydrogen conversion; in-fact it sounds downright dangerous. I envision my parents’ garage exploding when my Dad accidentally splits a hydrogen atom or something in the process. Anyway, he hasn’t said anything about it for a few weeks, so maybe he’s given up since the manual was over 150 pages.
According to the Greased Lightening article, while converting your car to run on biodiesel fuel isn’t hard, it’s the picking-up of the nasty smelling stuff, lugging it home (without spilling it), heating it, straining it and storing it that sounds like a big pain in the neck. Plus, the writer says that when his car runs it stinks like a garbage truck on a hot summer day. Ugh.
Since I can’t see myself driving a car where I have to stop and wretch from the stench every few minutes, I’ve decided that the best way for me to deal with the high gas prices is to keep it simple and do what I can to increase my gas mileage. Here are few things I’m doing to extend the times between refills on my car:
1. When I go out I plan a route that will take me past several stores/stops at one time.
2. When I get stuck at a train crossing I shut the engine off.
3. I emptied out my trunk of all extraneous items to reduce the weight of my car.
4. I’m checking my tire pressure to make sure they aren’t low - as that reduces mileage.
5. No more speeding – it burns too much gas.
6. I’m only using the air conditioner on the hottest days - 90 degrees and over.
7. I coast downhill and to red lights now whenever I can. (If you’re behind me don’t bother honking – If you want me to go faster you’ll have to get out and push my car.)
If anyone has any other gas saving tips – that will not make anything smell like garbage – please share.
To read the article in The NYT from June 9, paste this link into your browser:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/opinion/09melville.html?scp=1&sq=
Greased%20Lightning%20Op-Ed&st=nyt