Planet DFW

Even at $5 a gallon, driving would be cheaper than flying

With those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer on the horizon, many of you are probably planning, or at least thinking about, a summer vacation trip with the kids. Let's say you want to go to Brownsville, about 500 miles each way. With gas prices expected to reach $4 per gallon next month, is it cheaper to drive from Fort Worth to Brownsville, or fly?

According to the Car Care Council, which advocates the benefits of regular vehicle care, maintenance and repair, the answer is driving. And it would be that way even if gasoline prices were $5 per gallon. The Council compares the costs for a family of four traveling 1,000 miles round-trip for flying vs. driving. They did not gauge whether you would enjoy being crammed in a car with your family for six hours.

By air, that family will spend an average of $1,324 for tickets, based on 2007 fourth quarter statistics from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. However airline ticket prices have increased a reported ten times since December, so the total average ticket price today would exceed $1,300 for four persons. By vehicle: If gasoline prices were $5 a gallon, the cost for a family of four traveling by SUV would be $343. This number not only includes the cost of gasoline, but also tire wear and maintenance based on the American Automobile Association’s vehicle operating costs, according to the Council. So, strictly from a financial point of view, driving is the best option.

-- Scott Streater

Is efficiency the key to clean energy?

The non-partisan think-tank American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy is scheduled to release a report on Thursday that concludes the country has invested in energy efficiency a lot more heavily than is commonly understood. This trend, the report finds, has bought the nation time to develop new and cleaner energy resources, like wind and solar energy.

Among the reports key findings are that energy efficiency investments are now three times larger than those of investments in traditional energy resources, and energy efficiency gains from 2003 to 2004 alone eliminated the need for dozens of power plants.

-- Scott Streater

Trading in your gas-guzzler for a fuel-efficient vehicle may not save you money

It would seem to make all the sense in the world. With gas prices on the north side of $3.50 a gallon and heading up and up and up, why not head to the auto dealer and trade in that Ford Expedition for a Honda Civic or a Toyota Prius. Doing so will save money, right? Well, yes and no. While you'll certainly pay much less at the pump by doing this, the problem is that gas guzzling SUVs and pickups aren't worth nearly as much in trade-in value today as they were six months months ago because everybody's trying to get rid of their fuel-consuming vehicle.

At least that's according to this story posted on Yahoo.com, which explains there's more to the issue than sticker shock at the gas pump. By some estimates, the value of used sport utility vehicles has dropped more than 20 percent since January, according to the story. And even if your current car is paid for, you're likely to incur new monthly payments when you buy that fuel-efficient replacement.

Yahoo uses the example of a 2001 Ford Expedition XLT, which gets about 16 mpg in city driving. At $3.70 a gallon for regular fuel, it costs about $97 to fill the Expedition's 26-gallon tank. By comparison, the two-wheel-drive 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, promises to deliver about 32 mpg in normal driving, double what the 2001 Expedition delivers. A fill-up of the Escape's 15-gallon tank at $3.70 a gallon would cost about $55. With the Escape, your annual fuel bill, assuming the same mileage and $3.70 a gallon, would be about $1,770 a year less than the Expedition. But the new Escape will cost you $5,268 in payments, not counting out-of-pocket fees and the value of the Expedition used at trade-in.

"If your prime motivator is the sticker shock at the gas pump, act with caution," the story concludes. "While a new vehicle may help you save at the pump, it can significantly increase your overall costs."

-- Scott Streater

Energy efficient cars with power you can expect to see in the near future

With gasoline prices going through the roof the sale of fuel-efficient cars is exploding. One common complaint that keeps people from buying energy-efficient vehicles is that they lack power. That complaint will soon disappear.

Forbes has compiled a list of technologcially advanced fuel-efficient cars, some of which will be coming on the market this summer or later this year. One my favorites that will be available this year is the 2009 Lincoln MKS sedan, which is equipped with an engine that uses gas-turbocharged direct-injection technology to improve fuel economy by 20 percent and lower carbon dioxide emissions 15 percent when compared with the 2008 MKS. Or how about the Chrysler Aspen (pictured above), a hybrid that alternates between a four-cylinder and a V8 engine.

Forbes asks: "Though consumers say they want stylish vehicles that are environmentally friendly, are they willing to plug in a car overnight or install a recharging station in their garage?"

The answer from the auto industry: We don't know.

"We have to see how customers are going to react to the vehicles," says John Hanson, a Toyota spokesman. "We have to deliver vehicles that live up to the high expectations of consumers. The question is: Are consumers ready to make some lifestyle changes?"

-- Scott Streater

Free gasoline! No, just kidding. But here's a few tips that will save you money at the pump

Here's a blog post that actually pays for the time you spent reading it while the work kept piling up on your desk.

Our friends at CNN have put together a list of tips how "to lower the pain at the pump" as gasoline prices head toward $4 a gallon. Among the suggestions: Find the cheapest gas stations in your area. This is not as simplistic as it sounds. The difference between the most expensive gas station and the cheapest gas station is as much as 40 cents, on average, according to the story, which notes that the richest areas of town often charge more. This is true. Example: This past weekend, while driving to church in Southlake, I noticed that the per-gallon price for the lowest-grade of gasoline was 25 cents higher at some gas stations in Southlake than in Keller, where we live. If you've got a 20-gallon tank in your truck, it costs you $5 more to fill up your tank in Southlake than in Keller.

Another tip:  Wednesday morning is the best time to buy gasoline according to GasPriceWatch.com. That's because prices usually move up for the weekend, after which they settle, hitting the low point by Wednesday, according to the story.

The CNN story, and others like it, underscores the need to wean ourselves off of petroleum, get with the program and start driving more fuel-efficient vehicles. Hey, you don't eat vegetables because you like them, you eat them because they're good for you. Same for fuel efficiency. It may be good for the environment, but you do it because it's good for your wallet.

-- Scott Streater

Saving the planet, one copier at a time?

Corporate America has embraced going green, but mostly as far as it can be used as a marketing tool. You don't hear as much about what a business operation can actually do to minimize its impact on the environment. But Xerox Corp. is doing something to change that, at least among its customers. Yes, we're talking about your printer and copier. Those things use energy, you know.

Anyway, Xerox has introduced a Sustainability Calculator designed to gauge how much energy their copiers, printers and fax machines use, how much paper they use, how much greenhouse gases they produce, and what those numbers would look like with a more efficient piece of equipment. At least that's the goal, and it's designed specifically for businesses.

"It provides customers with actionable recommendations to help them achieve their 'green' objectives and in doing so realize cost-savings and efficiency gains that come with an optimized office environment," said John Kelly, the company's president, in this press release.

But some aren't reacting positively to the new online calculator idea. The Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog links to a critical posting in Earth2Tech. The WSJ blog writes, "if Xerox can convince customers to replace existing machines with new 'multi-function' products that do it all, customers save on energy, paper, service, and inventory." And, the blog concludes, "Xerox sells loads of snazzy new machines."

-- Scott Streater

Looking for a fuel-efficient car or truck? Here's a source that can help

With gasoline prices move farther and farther beyond $3 a gallon, AutoTrader, the nation’s No. 1 automotive classifieds magazine, is expanding its new Green publication to include Dallas auto dealers and consumers. AutoTrader Green features only vehicles for sale that average more than 30 miles per gallon. Dallas will be one of only eight cities where AutoTrader provides this service.

It's not hard to figure out why AutoTrader is expanding. Soaring gas prices and environmental concerns have generated unprecedented demand for fuel-efficient vehicles. According to AutoTrader, last year the “budget cars” segment –- defined as small, inexpensive models like the Chevrolet Aveo, Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris that achieve extremely good gas mileage -– grew by nearly 48 percent. Hybrids were the next best-selling segment with a 34 percent increase, while the overall auto sales market was flat from the previous year. In other words, people want fuel-efficient cars.

In addition to Dallas, AutoTrader announced it will expand the Green magazine to Los Angeles, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Minneapolis and Charlotte. The magazine began the Green publication last year in Seattle and Portland.

-- Scott Streater

Warning: Eco-friendly cars may not guzzle gasoline, but they drink a lot of water

If you want to do something to help the planet, driving a fuel-efficient vehicle is a good place to start. And even if you don't care about the environment, with gasoline prices expected to continue climbing north to $4 a gallon, it makes sense economically. But eco-minded drivers in drought-prone states should read this new study that concludes producing electricity for hybrid and fully electric vehicles, like the Chevrolet Volt pictured below, could sharply increase water consumption in the U.S.

In a new study set to be published in the June issue of the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin conclude that converting light-duty vehicles from full gasoline power to electric power, by using either hybrid electric vehicles or fully electric power vehicles, is likely to increase demand for water resources. They say that policy makers often neglect the impact hybrid and electric vehicles could have on already-scarce water resources. So, to drive home that point, they calculated water usage, consumption, and withdrawal during petroleum refining and electricity generation in the U.S. Each mile driven with electricity consumes about three times more water than with gasoline, primarily from power plants, the study found.

Click here to read the study abstract, and to download the full report.

The researchers were quick to note that the negative impacts on water resources do not make such a shift undesirable. The article calculates that in 2005 the drivers of 234 million cars, light trucks, and SUVs drove approximately 2.7 trillion miles and consumed over 380 million gallons of gasoline per day. Rather, they just want policy makers to consider that this increase in water usage could present a significant potential impact on regional water resources and should be considered when planning for a plugged-in automotive economy.

Just something to think about.

-- Scott Streater

Can bacteria produce electricity? You bet

With concerns about rising energy costs, we hear a lot these days about efforts to produce electricity from a wide range of sources, including the wind and sun, to more extreme measures like cow manure and the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. On that point, I submit this. Researchers at the University of Minnesota say they've found a way to increase the amount of electricity produced and transmitted by bacteria: Just feed them riboflavin (commonly known as vitamin B-2). The bacteria that is the focus of the research is called Shewanella (pictured above), which is commonly found in water and soil. These bacteria can convert simple organic compounds into electricity, according to Daniel Bond and Jeffrey Gralnick of the University of Minnesota’s BioTechnology Institute and department of microbiology.

Click here to read a press release on the study results from the University of Minnesota.

It's biggest benefit: According to the press release, scaled-up "microbial fuel cells" could generate enough electricity to clean up wastewater, saving sewage treatment plants millions of dollars.

According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, wastewater treatment plants are energy intensive. Along with drinking water plants, they account for more than a third of municipal energy use. Improving the energy efficiency of America's wastewater treatment systems by only 10 percent, according to the EPA, would save billions of kilowatt-hours a year, representing a cost savings of hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Wastewater treatment systems spend billions of dollars a year on energy to collect and treat sewage at the 16,500 wastewater plants across the country, according to the EPA.

But what about broader applications, like heating and cooling my house? Not in the near future. Such  uses will require significant advances in biology and in the cost-effectiveness of fuel cell materials, according to the university.

-- Scott Streater

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the greenest home improvement retailer of them all?

Last week came news that Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, had agreed to pay a $1.3 million fine and take other actions to resolve allegations from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department, that the retailer had violated the Clean Water Act at 30 construction sites in 28 states, including Texas. The problem: Home Depot was not taking appropriate steps when building new stores to control the amount of water that was running off of the construction site into waterways and storm drains that empty into waterways.

Now comes this press release from Lowe's, Home Depot's chief rival, announcing that the EPA and the Department of Energy have awarded Lowe’s the 2008 Energy Star Award for Excellence in Retail Commitment for the company’s "outstanding contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through leadership in marketing and promoting energy-efficient products and solutions," according to a company press release.

Coincidence? I don't know. Lowe's has won the award before. But this certainly helps Lowe's marketing department sell itself as a green corporation. Both Lowe's and Home Depot have issued eco-friendly product lines that have been quite successful.

Lowe’s, according to the release, is being honored primarily for raising awareness to the Energy Star program -- the partnership between the EPA and the Department of Energy that's best known for rating the energy efficiency of products from dish washers to water heaters. It has helped raise awareness by promoting compact fluorescent light bulbs and for sharing "its marketing savvy" with federal officials.

-- Scott Streater