FuelClinic.com Launch
FuelClinic.com is getting pushed out the door today. I believe the mantra “Launch Early – Launch Often” for small web projects like this – and, although this isn’t really that “early” – it’s at least a start. This will also motivate me to make the website a priority among my various projects and finally finish the phase-1 functionality.
I’ve begun a small online advertising campaign, and will be writing a press release over the weekend. I’ll run it past a few people who understand press releases better than I do, and if it looks good – I’ll be pushing that out the door next week sometime.
I hope that the website will be useful to people. There is a core set of beta testers who continue to use the site, kicking the tires, and telling me what they think about the site. With additional exposure, and user feedback, I’ll continue to plan and develop the phase-2 requirements. There are some really great ideas floating around in the notes.
Let the adventure begin!
2% Reduction in Demand = 10% Reduction in Fuel Price
Source: WCBSTV.com
…Researchers say today’s cars are most fuel efficient at speeds between around 30 and 60 mph, and mileage drops sharply at speeds above 65 as engines work harder to overcome wind resistance that rises exponentially. If drivers were forced to slow down—and lower speed limits were enforced—the thirst for fuel could be significantly reduced, which could ease prices.
Recent surveys show that many drivers have changed their habits to cut fuel costs, but the changes tend to be ones that bring immediate gratification—such as using the Internet to find stations with the lowest prices and putting less gas in the tank instead of filling up, said Larry Compeau, executive officer of the Society for Consumer Psychology and an associate marketing professor at Clarkson University.
“If you buy a more fuel-efficient car or find cheaper gasoline, those things are right in front of you,” Compeau said. “Whether you do 65 or 55 is much more nebulous. There’s no way for you to immediately see the impact.”
Based on recent highway traffic volume trends, throttling back to 60 mph from 70 mph would likely reduce gasoline usage between 2 percent and 3 percent, which is about what happened when the 55-mph limit was imposed in the 1970s, said David Greene, a senior researcher at the U.S. Energy Department’s Oak Ridge National Lab.
“We’re talking about a 2-to-3 percent reduction in demand, which would mean a much larger percentage reduction in price, maybe 10 percent,” Greene said.
New Year’s Resolution
Happy New Year! This New Year resolve to change a few habits, save a few bucks, save a few barrels of oil. I’m working to get FuelClinic v.1.0 fully realized, and we’re a few weeks away from that milestone.
In the mean time, you can begin gathering your fuel receipts every time you fill up at the pump. Write your odometer reading on the receipt, and store it in your sun-visor or in a good spot on your dash. After you have 3 receipts, log-in to www.fuelclinic.com and enter the information from your receipts.  Â
FuelClinic.com in early Beta release.
It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally set aside a few hours to get the early-beta release of FuelClinic put together and out on the hosting server.
If interested in what the future might hold for FuelClinic – create a new account for yourself, set-up a vehicle in the system, then start adding fuel receipts. With just 2 consecutive receipts in the system the fun begins. The more you add, the better the graphs looks, and more accurate the various projections become.
 All comments, bug reports, feature requests, and general comments are greatly appreciated!
 - Doc
Key to Modern Life: Energy Ignorance
A good (long) article about a group of people who are eeking out a living in the wilderness of North Carolina, attempting to create a sustainable lifestyle where they live peacefully off the grid, and as efficiently as possible… What follows are some of my favorite bits from this comprehensive article.
By Joel Achenbach
Sunday, November 19, 2006;…THE KEY TO MODERN LIFE IS STRATEGIC IGNORANCE. There are so many things we don’t know about our lives and that, frankly, we don’t want to know. We don’t know much about the basic things that sustain us. We are clueless “end users” in elaborate industrial supply lines. Energy comes from distant power plants and oil refineries and pipelines and electrical grids, but we don’t think about them when we flick on a light or turn the key in the ignition. We live in a world we didn’t make, by rules and customs and laws we didn’t invent, using tools and technologies we don’t understand…
Plug-In Hybrids = 100+ MPG
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A Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) is essentially a regular hybrid with an extension cord. You can fill it up at the gas station, and you can plug it in to any 120-volt outlet. It’s like having a second fuel tank that you always use first — only you fill up at home, from a regular outlet, at an equivalent cost of under $1/gallon…
…PHEVs are meant to plug-in at night. In many areas of the country, overnight power is available at a lower cost. As PHEVs start to enter the marketplace, we’ll see increasing support from electric utilities, as they’ll offer reduced nighttime rates to incentivize off-peak charging. In some areas where wind and hydropower is wasted at night, the rate can be as low as 2-3 cents per kWh. That’s 20-25 cents a gallon…
…The nationwide electrical grid is only 3% petroleum-fueled, whereas transportation is almost completely powered by oil — 60% of which comes from foreign sources (and growing). Adoption of plug-in hybrids will transfer the overwhelming majority of our miles driven to nearly oil-free electricity. If all vehicles were plug-in hybrids we would cut our oil needs by 55%, nearly enough to eliminate foreign sources altogether.
The winning combination from an environmental and national-security perspective is the flexible-fuel PHEV — one that runs on biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, methanol, or alternative liquid fuel in place of gasoline. This will reduce the transportation sector’s use of oil to almost zero — and cut the United States’ annual oil needs by 2/3.
Fuelishness! Update
Hey there, Doc here.
Sorry that things have been so quiet the last few weeks – there has been a lot going on in my life, and as this is a one-man-show for now, these events have a serious impact on the amount of time and attention I could spend on FuelClinic and Fuelishness! But I think things are slowing down at work, and I’ll have some more time to read, analyze and write…
Also during this time I ordered and received a digital fuel consumption meter for review, and have enjoyed learning how my driving habits impact my average fuel economy figures. I’ll write more about all of that in a week or so, when I have some hard numbers on how much my MPG has changed since I installed this new real-time meter… but I think it’s been good enogh to convince me that each car I buy in the future should have a similar guage installed.
Here is an interesting read on the subject by a like-minded individual concerning his experience with a fuel consumption meter in his Honda:
My Mileage is Better Than YoursÂ
…What does all this prove, except that driving is so dull that even keeping track of fuel consumption can liven it up? It proves that measurement changes behavior, one of those maxims dear to dieters, stock analysts, and advocates of standardized tests for schoolchildren. If, as with most cars, you have only the dimmest notion of how many miles to the gallon you get, it’s no wonder that fuel economy ranks low on your list of priorities. The minute you start measuring mileage, though, you start caring about it. You can’t help yourself — it’s like an itch. Your driving habits begin to change: no more jackrabbit starts, not ever; it’s too easy to see the toll they take on your gas tank. You develop a light foot, learn how to hold a steady 65 on the highway without any yo-yoing up and down…Â
Next X PRIZE= High-efficiency automobiles that people will actually buy!
Part of the reason I’m developing this FuelClinic.com application is because I’m tired of waiting for things to change. While I believe that I can help people use what they already have in more efficent ways, I also know that I can’t reach as many people as I would like. So the announcement that the next big X PRIZE will be focusing on developing commercially viable high-efficiency automobiles is very exciting.
Why an Automotive X PRIZE?
- Because today’s oil consumption is not sustainable – our current use of oil endangers our health, our economy, and the political and social stability of the world.
- Because 40% of world oil output fuels the automotive industry – and, in the U.S., 65% of oil consumption is in the transportation sector.
- Because automotive emissions contribute significantly to global climate change.
- Because there are no mainstream consumer choices for clean, super-efficient vehicles that meet market needs for price, size, capability, image, safety and performance.
- Because the automotive industry is stalled – legislation, regulation, labor issues, manufacturing costs, legacy costs, franchise laws, obsolete technology, consumer attitudes, and many other factors have combined to block breakthroughs.
- Because increases in engine efficiency have been “spent” on increased vehicle power, acceleration, and weight, rather than on increased fuel economy.
- Because we believe there is great opportunity for technological change.
Goals of the PrizeOur goal is to stimulate automotive technology, manufacturing and marketing breakthroughs that:
- Radically reduce oil consumption and harmful emissions
- Result in a new generation of super-efficient and desirable mainstream vehicles that people want to buy
Funny how a giant cash reward has a way of motivating people to come up with great inventions…
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