Comments

The savings from very basic and trivial acts by millions of people are staggering. The only problem is getting everyone in lockstep. We could resolve the oil problem if everyone would reduce the temperature in their home by 1 degree this winter. I am happy to give up my degree - too bad everyone isn't.

Posted by Alexander Muse at October 1, 2005 9:36 PM

Big gas savings-- drive a motorcycle instead of a car!

Posted by AJ Hoge at October 2, 2005 6:51 AM

AJ, or as my stepson, Ben, in Durango CO says, "Ride a bike." He reports that he hasn't used his car in months--though he admits that getting to the slopes in CO by bike won't be easy!

Posted by tom peters at October 2, 2005 7:52 AM

Even better AJ - why not jog? :-)

Posted by Trevor at October 2, 2005 3:47 PM

Another good idea might be to consider not driving such outrageously oversized and overweight vehicles that, (even when the phenomenon of fuzzy logic controlled cruise controls are employed), remain staggeringly inefficient.

Posted by Tim at October 3, 2005 12:15 AM

Driving friendly and moving out of the left lane if you are driving slowly won't save you any gasoline, but it will save a lot of other people their gasoline.

Posted by David Locke at October 3, 2005 4:29 AM

Trevor: Or Power Walk. Just finished 3 miles at 6am in Santiago. Nice to be on safe street again.

Posted by tom peters at October 3, 2005 6:05 AM

Trevor/Tom... Absolutely, biking, walking, jogging are the best solutions of all. When I lived in Hiroshima, I did nothing but walk and ride my bike. Never even took the buses, as there were so many great bike paths.

But here in Bangkok, riding a bike is suicidal... and walking isnt much of an option for most trips either.

Which just goes to show that PUBLIC policy effects our personal options/choices quite a bit!

Posted by AJ Hoge at October 3, 2005 8:01 AM

Interesting about cruise control

A little while ago a motoring program in the UK (Top Gear) did a "Can this car go to Scotland and back on one tank" item.

The presenter found that cruise control actually increased consumption as it could not predict ahead what the traffic was doing and slowely make adjustments.

Having said that, for the average driver maybe it does help

Posted by PaulH at October 3, 2005 8:10 AM

How about sharing the URL for that research report so that others can benefit from it?

Posted by Don Buzzingham at October 3, 2005 9:51 AM

Cruise control in our cars works only when travelling at speeds higher than 45mph. It works wonders for savings on gas for long distance drives and on freeways where there is little or no congestion. We found on two recent trips to Missouri and Colorado that switching to lower gears (D3/D2) while going up and down slopes is more effective than using your brakes in the regular drive gear. Of course, you need to know when to shift down and when to shift back up or else it beats the purpose!

Posted by polarmate at October 7, 2005 12:05 PM

The cruise control in my Honda works at any speed greater than 15 mph. Speaking of Honda, saving gas is possible by driving the right kind of vehicle. If Honda of America can design and manufacture a minivan (full-sized) with a high horsepower 6 cylinder engine that steadily gets 30 mpg, why can't everybody? Seen those DCX and Ford minivans lately? At best they get about 20 mpg--and that's with underpowered 4 cyls.

Posted by Clem at October 12, 2005 7:37 AM