Cut Your Petroleum Consumption, Today!

Gasoline prices seem like they’ll never stop climbing. Price is not the only penalty that we pay for our petroleum use, however. Petroleum consumption contributes to our trade deficit with other nations, funds regimes hostile to the United States, and is one of the largest contributors to air pollution in Ohio. The Clean Fuels Ohio offers the following tips to help you decrease your petroleum consumption and help reduce air pollution:

• Walk, bike, take a bus, or carpool whenever possible.
• Stagger your work hours to avoid rush hours so that you spend less time with your car idling

• Combine multiple errands into one trip, and plan your route so that you don’t retrace your path. Several short trips with a cold engine will use twice the fuel as a multi-stop trip of the same distance.
• Avoid idling your car—a car that is idling is getting zero miles per gallon, and idling increases wear and tear on your engine.
• Take it easy on the brake and the gas pedals! Aggressive driving can lower your mileage by as much as 33%, and is dangerous for you and those around you.
• Don’t speed. Gas mileage declines rapidly over 60 mph. Driving even five miles per hour over the posted speed is like spending an extra dime per gallon at the pump.
• Keep unnecessary items out of the trunk and off the roof rack. The excess weight reduces gas mileage, and items on the roof rack can contribute significant drag.
• Turn off the AC when you don’t need it. If the day is not terribly hot, rolling down the windows or using the fresh air vents can keep your car comfortable.
  Maintain your car properly
• Follow your car manufacturer’s recommendations for motor oil and select a motor oil with “energy conserving” on the API performance label to make sure that it contains friction-reducing additives.
• Keep your tires properly inflated to improve gas mileage by up to 3%.
• Keep your engine properly tuned. Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune can improve mileage by up to 4%.
• Check those sensors! Fixing a faulty oxygen sensor can increase fuel economy by 40%.
  

Use an alternative to gasoline

• Driving a diesel car? Refined biodiesel can be purchased at several locations around central Ohio.
• Driving a car with a gasoline engine? You may already be able to drive E85—a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% petroleum that is much better for the environment than gasoline.
• Looking for an even less expensive alternative? Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is available locally, or you can fuel a vehicle from your home’s CNG supply. CNG currently costs around a dollar per gasoline gallon equivalent, and is much better for the environment.
  

Plan new car purchases well

• Visit www.fueleconomy.gov for side-by-side comparisons of new and used vehicles, and choose your vehicle wisely.
• Download our 2008 New Vehicle Buyers Guide for great alternative fuel options.

For more information visit the Clean Cities Fuel Economy Information Page