Free Republic

By 2018, America’s 18-wheelers will be rolling on getting 20 percent more miles per gallon due to new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules addressing new fuel standards for heavy vehicles. But as nice as it will be for big-rigs to save four gallons of fuel for every 100 miles traveled, fuel efficiency comes at a cost. The Wall Street Journal estimates the costs to be $1,050 for work trucks, $380 for vocational trucks and $6,220 for supercab tractors. President Obama and the EPA promise the upfront costs will more than pay for themselves after a year or two, but some...

KARNATAKA, INDIA -- The internal combustion (IC) engine is not going away any time soon. Improvements in IC designs, therefore, are a welcome addition to a world seeking for less consumption of fuel and cleaner emissions from the tail pipe. Somender Singh has come up with a way to provide a faster, hence more efficient burn, with less loss of heat, through his design to improve turbulence in combustion chambers. His patented work was been featured in the Sept. 24 2004 Popular Science magazine, and has been written about extensively on the net. Singh says that internal combustion engines fired...