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 The government of India is set to initiate a system of fuel economy ratings for cars by the year end that enables the buyer to know in progress what mileage to be expected from the car that one is planning to buy, and how it stacks up with other models in its class. Initially, the car makers are expected to willingly get their models labeled by the selected agency on a scale of one to five stars, much like the system in place for refrigerators and Air Conditioners. By 2011-12, the fuel competence norms will be made compulsory for all passenger vehicles, and any car that fails won’t be allowed on the road after the cut-off date. Besides helping the consumers to reach a more informed choice while buying a car of their budget and expectations, the government has estimated that the labeling standards would help to save about 5-15 million tones of fuel from the passenger vehicle segment by 2030. To implement this efficiency norm, cars will be divided into eight categories, by mass, with the best and worst performers. Within the same weight category, say the small car section, the fuel efficiency of various models varies by as much as 60-70 percentages. So while the best model in the small car segment might give a consumer 20 kmpl, another might be giving a mileage as low as 8-10 kmpl. By commanding standards, the government wants the poor performers to meet the efficiency levels set by the best in the industry. This will ensure two things. The consumer will get better performing new cars each year and auto manufacturers won’t be able to claim that they are being forced to go for costly technology instead they have to just use the best technologies already used in India. The bar will be getting the reports of the higher and badly performing models, with the standard of being raised for each segment every couple of year - if they don't improve - will not be allowed to sell from 2011-12. Things will start getting better for the consumers, from the last quarter of 2008 itself, which is when the government starts of putting mileage labeling of cars. Manufacturers for a fixed fee have to able to ask the government to test the car for mileage and then display the "star rating label". The model that achieves the best fuel economy for its class, and meets intend standards set by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) which is working under the power ministry, will be given five stars and the worst performers will be given one star. The label will be also displaying the mileage, as certified by the government, that the particular model gives. More importantly, this is to inform the consumer how that particular model performs in comparison with the best and the worst in its weight category. At present, many studies have been conducted by BEE to show that none of the existing models are doing better enough to get five stars and three-fourths are falling between three to four star rating levels. Data of all the vehicles that manufacturers get tested by the government would also be put up on a website to help consumers to compare the figures even before they hit the markets.
With insistent advertising and community outreach, the government has intended to push all the manufacturers to get their models labeled starting 2008-end.
               
 Cruise on in to Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park on Saturday Aug. 16, 2008 for a celebration of classic cars, classic motorcycles and classic rock and roll music.
The Cruisin’ with the Classics event will feature a classic car and bike show with trophies and no entry fees, starting at 10 a.m. and winding up at 4 p.m. Guests can enter hoola-hoop contests and a jump-rope competition and listen to live music and a DJ spinning “oldies but goodies” from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. A cook-out at the park’s beach house from noon to 8 p.m. will serve up food and refreshments for sale.
Bring lawn chairs or blankets and stake out a piece of the auto transportation park’s lawn area overlooking beautiful Buckhorn Lake. For more information on the event and sponsorship opportunities, call Tesa Turner or Wilma Neace at 800-325-0058.
Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park features a lodge and cottages for overnight accommodations, a restaurant and a wide range of activities, including hiking, fishing, boating, swimming and mini-golf. The park is located 25 miles northwest of Hazard, or 124 miles southeast of Lexington. The park’s address is 4441 KY Hwy. 1833 near KY Hwy. 28 in Perry County. For more information about the park’s amenities, visit www.parks.ky.gov. Labels: Buckhorn Lake to Stage Classic Car and Motorcycle
 The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), challenged to meet increasing responsibilities with fewer personnel and limited budgets, is being retooled to ensure its long-term viability and effectiveness.
The restructuring plan is designed to address continuing revenue limitations and an unprecedented number of retirements by ensuring that employees can work to maximum efficiency. Under the plan, all KYTC employees are retained with no loss of pay.
“Every year, the cabinet is forced to do more with less,” said Transportation Secretary Joe Prather. “Through careful consideration and examination of many viewpoints, we have made changes, particularly within our highway department, that allow more flexibility for employees and managers while improving organizational effectiveness.”
The reorganization combines the construction and maintenance functions in each district office into a delivery and preservation branch, a change that seeks to remove institutional barriers and allows for more blended job duties. “Both construction and maintenance are daily field activities,” said Chuck Knowles, deputy state highway engineer for project delivery and preservation. “The types of work and workloads can vary seasonally. This realignment will encourage employees to broaden their knowledge and skills in each area, allowing them more opportunities for advancement, while adding more value and efficiency to the cabinet.”
Each of the 12 highway districts will now contain four branches: project development, two project delivery and preservation branches and engineering support. There will be two or three section offices under each project delivery and preservation branch, each having responsibility for construction and maintenance activity for one to three counties. Each county will have a maintenance facility, which will be managed by a section office.
The new structure requires that job duties and titles be changed for many positions. In some situations, new positions will be established and filled. In other cases, existing positions will have revised job duties and employees will be reclassified or laterally transferred.
No current employees will lose their jobs, and no salaries will be cut. Employees who apply for newly created positions but are not selected will be reclassified into another appropriate position.
“This will be a lengthy transition process,” Gilbert Newman, state highway engineer said. “Our leadership team will work to accommodate the needs of our employees.”
Newman said employees whose job locations have changed will have opportunities for lateral auto transportation or reclassifications.
“We’ve reached a point where changes have to be made in order to continue efficient operations. By realigning the functions of our staff, we’ll be better able to reduce costs, provide greater consistency, maximize productivity and deliver a quality product to the citizens of Kentucky,” he said. Labels: Transportation Cabinet
Within two years, all new aircraft must include technology designed to significantly reduce the risk of center fuel tank fires as part of a final rule announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters. In addition, passenger aircraft built after 1991 must be retrofitted with technology designed to keep center fuel tanks from catching fire, she said.
“We want to do everything possible to make sure safety examiners won’t have to investigate another plane shattered by an exploding tank,” said Secretary Peters. “We can’t change the past, but we can make the future safer for thousands of air travelers, and this rule does just that.”
The Secretary, who spoke on the day before the anniversary of the crash of TWA Flight 800, said the new rule was needed to help avoid a similar tragic incident. She said the rule requires aircraft to have technology to neutralize or eliminate flammable gasses from fuel tanks under the center wing of commercial passenger planes.
Secretary Peters noted that in the wake of the TWA crash researchers with the Federal Aviation Administration developed a breakthrough system that replaces oxygen in the fuel tank with inert gas, which effectively prevents the potential ignition of flammable vapors. She added that commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing also has developed a similar system.
“Today’s rule will add another layer of safety reducing the chance that the vapors in the tank will ignite, even if there is a spark,” said FAA Acting Administrator Robert A. Sturgell.
Secretary Peters noted the cost of installing the new technology would range from $92,000 to $311,000 per aircraft, depending on its size. She said this cost could be as little as one-tenth of one percent of the cost of a new aircraft. The U.S. aircraft that will be retrofitted include approximately 2,730 aircraft belonging to the A320 family of 900 airplanes, 50 A330s, 965 Boeing 737s, 60 Boeing 747s, 475 Boeing 757s, 150 Boeing 767s and 130 Boeing 777s.
“I recognize that this is a challenging time for commercial aviation,” Secretary Peters said. “But there is no doubt that another crash like TWA 800 would pose a far greater challenge.”
The Secretary made the announcement while addressing accident investigators at the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Training Facility in Virginia. Before addressing the examiners, the Secretary, Acting Administrator Sturgell and NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker visited the remains of the TWA flight which are kept at the site as an educational tool for safety investigators.
 Farmers, foresters and biomass producers can apply for up to £200,000 each under a new round of grants opened today by Environment Minister Phil Woolas.
The Bio-energy Infrastructure Scheme will support the biomass industry in Englandy helping those supplying biomass fuel for use in heat and electricity generation.
Phil Woolas said:
"We have to rethink our energy mix. We know biomass has the potential to considerably reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and cut our carbon emissions. UK producers are setting the standard and have shown production can be sustainable and our investment will support their commitment to this emerging industry."
"The fund will inject cash at the point of production. By investing in the biomass industry we are helping farmers, foresters and other producers to diversify and become part of the environmental industry sector which is currently worth more than £25bn and growing."
All projects must be based in England and must supply the biomass to end-users in Great Britain. Grants are available for up to a maximum of £200,000 per producer group or business.
The deadline for applications is 5 August 2008 for applications from businesses and 5 September 2008 from producer groups. Labels: Cash boost for biomass fuel
Gas prices held stable during the night in record terrain, a every day survey by auto club AAA showed Wednesday.
The national average price for a gallon of usual gas remained unchanged at an all-time high of $4.108.
Retail gas prices have risen 38.5% over the last 12 months.
Alaska has the highest gas prices in the nation. Drivers in the state pay an average of $4.615 a gallon. Californians pay an average of $4.552 for a gallon of gas and Hawaiians pay $4.456.
The state with the lowest gas prices is South Carolina, where a gallon of gas averages $3.930.
Diesel prices rose overnight. The national average price for a gallon of diesel fuel increased six-tenths of a cent to an all-time high of $4.813, according to the AAA survey.
 The U.S. Department of Energy at present took the wraps off of an online Alternative Fuel Station Locator that should make it a bit easier to find the right fuel if you need something other than gasoline or diesel. Just put in your address, the fuel you're looking for, how wide a radius you'd like the database to include and presto. Instant results. As I still drive a gasoline-powered car (an efficient one, mind you), I can't personally umpire the correctness of the information for local pumps, but if you're knowledgeable about these sorts of things, give the online station locator a test and see how it does.
The DOE's map includes pumps/stations that offer:
#Biodiesel (B20 and above)
#Compressed Natural Gas
#Electric
#Ethanol (E85)
#Hydrogen
#Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
#Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Propane)
The database should be fairy exact, as the DOE gathers it's information "from trade media, hygienic Cities coordinators, and the submittal form on the AFDC Web site." Then, each station is contacted twice a year to make sure the fuel listed is still available at the site. Happy hunting.
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The government of India is set to initiate a system of fuel economy ratings for cars by the year end that enables the buyer to know in progress what mileage to be expected from the car that one is planning to buy, and how it stacks up with other models in its class. 
