Thursday, July 3, 2008

Switching to Biodiesel

Another alternative to water fueled vehicles, the recently most talked about source of fuel is the biodiesel trend. With the fuel prices going higher day by day, people are starting to focus on the fuel efficiency rather than the appearance of the vehicle. With advancement in science, new alternative fuel choices, like biodiesel & water which are cost-effective and more environmentally friendly, raise the awareness of many whether should they go into using alternative fuel such as biodiesel in replacement of their conventional petroleum.

No doubt, a biodiesel vehicle definitely worth considering as an fuel source as it is made from renewable resources that are natural and do not produce harmful byproducts thus no pollution to our environment. Biodiesel is made from vegetable oil, but compared to other vegetable oil based alternative fuels, it is cost efficient and can be easily to make and use even from our very own homes.

Biodiesel has become such a better fuel choice that even large companies who are originally spending large amounts of money towards fuel purchase are now using it for the fueling of their equipments exclusively. Which results in the situation whereby now they can use the much cheaper choice like biodiesel. In return, the companies can either pass on their savings to consumers, or use the savings to re-invest in making better products. Which makes using biodiesel a good choice for everyone including you & me.

With the trend of easy production of biodiesel vehicle for personal use. Manufactures are very interested in making biodiesel fueled vehicles. In major cities, it shouldn't be an issue to find dealers that are selling biodiesel vehicles, especially in areas where air pollution is a major concern since biodiesel is considered as source of clean burning fuel. However, in less populated areas, dealers who deals in biodiesel vehicles can be difficult to find.

In the market, there are a wide range of modification kits available to help you & me turn our existing vehicle into a biodiesel vehicle. Although these kits can be expensive, and may actually be unnecessary. As any petroleum based diesel engine can run on biodiesel. So, if you own a diesel vehicle, then you can simply switch to biodiesel without further concern.

Biodiesel vehicles are cost saving and are much better for the environment compared to petroleum fueled cars. Thus using a biodiesel vehicle or switching to biodiesel as your fuel choice you are actually using a resource that is renewable, clean burning, helps us to be less reliant on oil and eventually help further degrading our environment.

So by using a biodiesel vehicle you are helping yourself and those around you. A biodiesel vehicle is definitely going to save us a lot of money in the long run. Whereby the costs of biodiesel is averaging around 70 cents per gallon, by comparing the price to the prices the savings are obvious. Additionally, traditional fuels pollute the air with harmful chemicals that results in global warming, produce harmful byproducts during the manufacturing process. All around, biodiesel is simply the best choice whenever possible but by the end of the day, the choice still lies within the hand of ourselves.

Monday, June 30, 2008

Top Ten Tips for Reducing Office CO2 Emissions

There's more pressure than ever for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint. Whether climate change is at the top of organisations' agendas or not, measures to reduce CO2 emissions can significantly cut costs and improve staff, partner and customer relations, making business as well as environmental sense.

Give your company a CO2 health check - It's important to determine approximately how much CO2 your company emits and in which areas of the business CO2 emissions are the highest. Some businesses bring in a third party to assess this, however, this isn't essential. Commonsense combined with a decent business-specific carbon calculator are usually sufficient for CO2 health checks in office-based organisations.

Appoint a green executive - If this isn't already in place, a member of staff needs to be given overall responsibility for the company's environmental policy. Smaller organisations may decide to provide an existing member of staff with this responsibility, in which case they need to have the time and the desire to take on the role.

Involve staff - The buy-in of all staff needs to be obtained from the outset if measures to reduce carbon emissions are to be successful. Advise all staff of the company's 'green' plans and request help and suggestions. Ensure staff continue to be involved with the company's environmental direction by establishing a 'green committee' and/or a 'green ideas box' which allows staff to put forward their own suggestions for reducing emissions.

Recycle and re-use - Whenever possible, ensure office waste is recycled or re-used, including paper, IT equipment, office furniture, textiles etc.

Cut-down on paper use - As well as recycling paper, you should implement measures and technologies to cut-down on paper use. Encourage staff to refrain from printing-out emails and invest in document management technology. This technology dramatically cuts-down on paper use as well as the printing and photocopying of paper. With a typical return-on-investment of just six months, document management also makes smart business sense.

Enforce good housekeeping - Ensure staff turn off all electrical equipment when they leave the office, including PCs, phone chargers, photocopiers and lights.

Reduce out-of-office meetings -Where possible,cut-down on car travel by encouraging phone, video and web conferences as opposed to out-of-office meetings.

Promote public transport and car sharing -When staff do have to travel, encourage the use of public transport. A car-sharing pool also reduces the number of car journeys to and from the office.

Look into offsetting schemes - As well as reducing CO2 emissions, look into carbon offsetting schemes, which often have a range of economic and social as well as ecological benefits. Tree planting, investing in 'green energy' projects such as wind farms and providing funds for low carbon technologies in the developing world, are some of the offsetting projects available.

Evaluate progress - After 12 months, it's important to evaluate what impact the various measures have had. Have carbon emissions been reduced? Have staff bought-into the new measures? Have the measures cut costs? Once the results have been evaluated, plan the company's environmental policy for the next 12 months, setting-out organisation-wide targets.

Within the past year, 'climate change' and 'carbon footprints' have been so widely discussed that businesses are in danger of becoming complacent to the part they should be playing in reducing carbon emissions. With organisations trying to profit from the climate change frenzy by offering CO2 consultations and all manner of CO2 reducing solutions, businesses could also be led to believe that implementing measures to reduce CO2 levels is both costly and very time-consuming.

In actual fact, all types of organisation can take steps to reduce their emissions from ensuring staff turn-off their PCs to encouraging web, video and phone conferences. 'Going green' needn't cost a fortune and in actual fact, environmentally-friendly measures can save businesses money whilst improving staff morale.

Catherine Murphy is marketing manager for Version One, a multi environmental award winning Document Management company based in the UK and the USA. They offer money saving document management systems and document imaging software to environmentally conscious business and organisations worldwide.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Convert The Car To Run On Water


With the fuel prices rising day by day, fuel alternative has been on everybody's mind. And one of the most talked about ways to be environmental friendly as well as cost saving methods is to run our automobile using water regards to fuel efficient cars.

The hydrogen generator system which can be assembled and placed underneath the hood of the vehicle. Can allow the vehicle to integrate water to run the vehicle instead of using just petrol.

The hydrogen generator system consists of a stainless steel jar that holds an electrolyzer inside with about a gallon of water. Which extracts H²O gas from the water and sends it through the carburetor or intake manifolds. Since it has triple the potency, H²O gas gives your vehicle the extra boost it needs to run without relying completely on petrol. This results in better mileage, petrol consumption as well as reduction of carbon monoxide gas produced that contributes to global warming.

Although theoretically there will be benefits in using the hydrogen generator system, the results will differ according to certain conditions namely, the condition of the vehicle (engine, age etc.) & the type of petrol used.

Although i could give you useful information regarding fuel efficient cars and environmental friendly ways to reduce global warming, the decision still lies in your hands. If you are interested in something of this nature, please kindly subscribe to my blog as i will be covering more regarding this topic as well as other ways to be environmental friendly and yet cost saving tips as well.