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WASHINGTON, May 13 — When an F-16 lights up its afterburners, it consumes nearly 28 gallons of fuel per minute. No wonder, then, that of all the fuel the United States government uses each year, the Air Force accounts for more than half. The Air Force may not be in any danger of suffering inconveniences from scarce or expensive fuel, but it has begun looking for a way to power its jets on something besides conventional fuel. (Snip) The Air Force effort falls under a directive from Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to explore alternative fuel sources. Under the plan,...

Bush marks Earth Day with focus on alternative fuels SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - President George W. Bush marked Earth Day on Saturday by highlighting technology that could reduce U.S. dependence on oil, while Democrats used a spike in gas prices to criticize White House energy policy. With oil prices hitting a record high this week and gas at the pump topping $3 a gallon in some places, Democrats hoping to win control of the U.S. Congress in November elections seized on the issue to make a populist argument against big oil companies and Republicans' ties to them. Critics are also...

Summer driving will be expensive, with gasoline costs likely to stay high after jumping nearly 20 cents over the past two weeks. The cost of gasoline averages $2.68 nationwide for a gallon of regular. Some analysts say motorists may pay $3 a gallon this summer if there are unusual disruptions in supply. The Energy Department was to release its summer outlook for motor fuel prices at a news conference Tuesday. Prices at the pump have been climbing since February when the cost of regular grade gasoline averaged $2.25 a gallon. The average price of $2.68 a gallon last week is...

For passenger vehicles in Europe, gasoline and diesel continue to be the standard fuels. But with rising prices for gasoline and diesel, alternative fuels are steadily gaining more attention. In addition to its engine management systems for gasoline and diesel engines, Bosch has developed systems for alternative fuels. They are laying the foundations for sustainable mobility. · Flexible engine management systems for natural-gas or alcohol drive · CNG lowers running costs and conserves the environment · Alcohol-based fuel especially popular in Brazil With the Bosch NG-Motronic flexible engine management system, cars can be run on either gasoline or compressed natural...

A company offering rental cars powered entirely by bio-diesel set up shop in Los Angeles on Tuesday, hoping to bring the aroma of popcorn and doughnuts to the city's smoggy freeways. ADVERTISEMENT Just one snag -- there is only one place in town to fill up. Bio-Beetle Eco Rental Cars, which started out on the Hawaiian island of Maui three years ago, opened for business near Los Angeles International Airport with four cars fueled by filtered vegetable oil. "I've always wanted to come to Los Angeles," said founder Shaun Stenshol. "California is known as an environmentally friendly state and LA...

I never thought in my wildest dreams that my latest documentary The Rats Below was going to touch so deeply the Cuban exile community in Miami, betrayed by eight American presidents! But now add a seemingly benign huge U.S. corporation to the list of enemies, and the community responded! There have been all sorts of discrimination – even being excluded from a jury for being Cuban American for a trial in Miami. And being derided, maligned and literally dragged through the mud by the liberal U.S. media, openly calling them “Miami Mafia,” has left deep scars in the heart of...

When President Bush talked about environmentally responsible energy in his State of the Union speech, it was a surprise to a lot of folks. He was supposed to be a patsy or a puppet for Big Oil, according to his enemies, who grumbled that he was playing against type. But, as one political consultant said to me, "If Bush was actually a pawn of the oil industry, he would never have said that. He would not want people to even begin to think about alternate forms of energy." The harsh and sometimes daunting truth is that, like everything else in...

Detroit WHEN TREASURY SECRETARY John Snow announced guidelines for a new tax cut for the rich here last week, liberals did not denounce him. That's because the proposed tax breaks were for gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, the favorite ride of environmentalists this side of bicycles. But the dirty secret about hybrids is that, even as the government continues to fuel their growth with tax subsidies, they don't deliver the gas savings they promise.Most cars and trucks don't achieve the gas mileage they advertise, according to Consumer Reports. But hybrids do a far worse job than conventional vehicles in meeting their Environmental...

...For starters, it's hard to find the stuff. There are roughly 180,000 gasoline stations nationwide and fewer than 500 with E85. And ethanol can take us only so far. Huge tracts of farmland would have to be converted to corn production to provide enough fuel for significant portions of the American automobile fleet. A recent study published in the journal BioScience forecast that for all cars and trucks to run on ethanol by 2048, "virtually the entire country, with the exception of cities, would be covered with corn plantations." Using more farmland to produce ethanol would also drive up food...

Green Car Journal: Hybrids a Natural at Sierra Club National Convention SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 31 -- Hybrid electric vehicles are in the news and, increasingly, on American highways. Still, most people's experience with hybrids is limited to observing these advanced technology vehicles from afar, without the benefit of getting behind the wheel and finding out just how "natural" hybrids feel. This dynamic will change as the Sierra Club presents its Sierra Summit, the environmental group's first-ever National Environmental Convention and Expo, where at times it may appear there's as much activity outside San Francisco's Moscone Center as inside. During two...

If projections for success of technology come true, and cost issues are resolved, South Africa could see a sharp rise in demand in platinum. GENERAL Motors (GM) now devotes about half of its research and development to it; China and the European Union have announced government backing for it; and Anglo Platinum has just invested ZAR 320 million (US$35 million) in it. Fuel-cell technology has developed sufficient momentum to make a range of governments and industries particularly the platinum industry start revising their plans. At the moment, the use of platinum for fuel cells is tiny, perhaps a few thousand...

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Nov 20, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS), a leading supplier of software-defined tactical radios for worldwide defense forces, and MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc. (MTI Micro), a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology Inc. (Nasdaq:MKTY), today announced an agreement for the development of micro fuel cell system prototypes for potential use in Harris' tactical radios. Under the agreement, Harris will purchase direct methanol fuel cell system prototypes from MTI Micro with delivery from MTI Micro scheduled for early in 2003. "Today's military radio designs incorporate advanced capabilities like networking and encryption in a very small package," said David Stephenson,...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. scientists on Thursday called for a major investment into research and development of alternative energy sources, saying no current technology provides an adequate replacement for the fossil fuels that contribute to global warming (news - web sites). The scientists said they evaluated possible future energy sources, including wind and solar power, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion, that do not produce carbon dioxide, one of the gases believed to be trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere. Writing in the journal Science, they said they had identified several promising technologies, but none presently are a suitable alternative that...

A special police unit nicknamed the “frying squad” has been formed in a market town where hundreds of drivers are believed to be running their diesel cars on cooking oil. Sniffing out unusually fragrant exhaust fumes, highway patrols have already collared several dozen offenders, who save more than 40p a litre by diverting oil from the kitchen cupboard to under the bonnet. The Asda supermarket in Llanelli, south Wales, has slapped a ration on cooking oil sales, after astonished internal auditors found that it was selling far more than any other outlet in the country. Customs investigators are also involved...

Thanks for clicking here. I'm working on a project at work and was wondering if some smarter people than I could help with a few questions, as I don't know where else to turn. Here are my questions, and thanks for your time. 1. How much does a barrel of petroleum from the Middle East cost? 2. How much does it cost to maintain a military presence in the Persian Gulf region? 3. How much of a barrel of oil goes into gasoline, or how much in a dollar amount per barrel goes into a gallon of gas? 4. How...