If you like the video, consider making a donation below to the videographer who made the video available.   

Click here to download Veg My Ride in MP4 format.

Click here to download Veg My Ride diagrams and schematics

Below are the top ten ways you can save gas in your car.  Try a few of these productivity enhancements and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

1. Tire Pressure – Check tire pressure and bring it up to recommended levels

2. Use Synthetic Engine Oil – Synthetic oil reduces friction in the engine and lasts longer between oil changes..

Correct tire pressure and use of synthetic engine oil together will cut gasoline use by 1-3%

3. Use a Light Touch on the Accelerator and Brakes – Coasting up to red lights or traffic jams saves fuel. Avoid Jack-Rabbit starts (except in many hybrids where quick starts can save fuel)

4. Drive Slower – The slower you drive, the less energy it takes to propel you and your car down the road.

5. Buy a hybrid – They are more fuel efficient than a traditional gas car by using an electric motor and batteries to supplement propulsion as well as turning off their engines when they’re stopped.

6. Remove unused heavy junk from the trunk – A lighter car takes less energy to propel it down the road.

7. Open windows and turn off the AC at speeds under 35mph – If you are going faster than 35mph, roll up all the windows and turn on the AC. Open windows cause drag at high speeds that burns more fuel than running the AC.

8. Put shades in the windshield when parked to keep the auto interior cooler – It will take less fuel to cool off the car when you get back in to drive.

9. Use a Trip Computer – If your car has a trip computer that will display interactive fuel mileage, leave it in that mode. Studies show that monitoring the fuel mileage on a trip computer provides feedback that helps drivers keep good habits and use less fuel. A British Government report shows that this type of “eco-driving” can save as much as 10-15% of fuel in the long run and costs nothing to implement.

10. Work from home - Work from home one day a week and stay off the road if possible.

All of these productivity improvements together can save a 2010 net present value of $400 billion dollars. For more information, see Reinventing Fire, by Amory Lovins.

After reading a great poston visualizing energy, I thought I’d share with you the video produced by Getty Images for corporations to use as a point of reference when they are trying to promote and brand clean energy.

What images help you to better understand complex topics like energy and alternatives to fossil fuels?  Join the conversation and let us know what you think.

How Do I Reduce my Petroleum Usage?

I see many articles on ways that people can reduce their usage of oil in the home and in their lifestyle.  Bike to work, buy a scooter, buy natural fiber clothes.  All of these will make some difference but is it really the best bang for the buck?  Here is a short list of the best ways you can make a difference and use less oil

1. Buy a more fuel efficient car. This is “hands down” the very best way you can impact your daily use of petroleum.  I own a ’99 VW Jetta TDI diesel sedan that gets between 40 and 55 miles to the gallon.  If all of us bought cars that get 40 miles to the gallon, we’d reduce our daily oil consumption from between 2 and 3 million barrels a day.  That’s barrels of crude oil.  Therefore, the actual savings in gallons of gas would be between 40 and 60 million gallons per day!

I told you it would be a short list.  Don’t ignore the small changes like using washable cloth grocery bags and avoiding plastic water bottles.  All of these things add up but the best way to impact our oil consumption is to drive a more fuel efficient vehicle.

It’s time to trade in the Hummer for a Hybrid!  (or a small diesel sedan or wagon)

We want to hear from you about ways that you reduce your dependence on oil.  Come join the discussion in the Vehicle Efficiency forum at the Mapawatt Community.

Dear Mr. Marx,

I would like to offer a suggestion for a new marketing program to help promote the upcoming Nissan Leaf electric vehicle this winter.  For each Nissan Leaf sold, offer to donate a percentage of the purchase price to the Gulf Oil Spill relief effort.  Give the purchaser the choice of either directing the donation to the cleanup effort or to the relief effort for the many people affected by this environmental catastrophe.  This program will not just promote a great new vehicle, it will give Leaf owners the opportunity to help those affected by our addiction to petroleum.

Just as we have done in catastrophes such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti Earthquake, Americans want to help.  It’s called the “American Spirit.”  One of the best things we can do to help prevent future problems like this is to help Americans take steps toward freedom from an addiction to petroleum.  Buying a Nissan Leaf and demanding that local and state governments provide charging infrastructure for electric vehicles is an important step forward.

I hope you will take my suggestions to heart and offer this program when you launch the Nissan Leaf this year.

Best Wishes,

Powell
NotPetroleum.com

Seagull Coated in Gulf Oil - Louisiana

As the toxic slur of oil and dispersants drift ashore across the American Gulf Coast, I wonder if this will be enough to make us change our ways?  Over the past hundred years, we’ve accomplished a lot.  We made the internal combustion engine the mainstream choice for transportation.  We’ve built roads and super-highways that link every state together in the United States.  We have a fueling infrastructure that has very few areas where you don’t have at least three or four choices of fuel stations.  We’ve developed advanced fertilizers and pesticides from petroleum that allows us to feed hundreds of millions of people.  We synthesize oil into olefins for making advanced polymers and plastics that allow us to carry disposable plastic water bottles wherever we go.

However, our voracious appetite for oil is polluting our environment and putting billions of dollars into the pockets of nations that undermine freedom, fund terrorism and have been linked to planting IEDs that kill our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Is it all worth it?

How many wars and Gulf oil spills will it take before we realize that we need to demand better alternatives?  Henry Ford mass-produced the first automobiles without any roads or fuel stations across the nation.  Americans fell in love with the automobile, purchased them and demanded roads and fuel stations.  We can do this again and it will be alot easier.

The Nissan Leaf electric vehicle will begin shipping in December of 2010.  They can be driven on the same roads and highways.  Electricity is available along every major road and highway in our nation.  If you believe we are a nation that can innovate and make the world a better place, trade in one of your cars for a Nissan Leaf and demand charging stations throughout your city or town.  Our grandparents did it and now it’s our turn.