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And the US automotive industry is in dire straits. It did not learn from the 1973 energy crisis. It did not learn from the Chrysler experience. It did not learn from Toyota. It continued to depend on old, worn out concepts and on CEO’s that are kept in their positions by nepotism and by boards that do not understand the automotive business.

In a joint effort the Big Three are asking the US government for a $25 billion loan. They argue that government demands for increased fuel efficiency are too expensive to implement and require huge amounts of capital for retooling.

Let’s assume for the moment that the argument has some merit. But how can companies with worldwide manufacturing facilities fail to notice the steady increase in fuel prices and not see the warning signs hoisted by governments across the world that want to limit greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption. This neglect is inexcusable. Efforts of US and European governments to limit fuel consumption are misdirected, counterproductive, and coercive. A comprehensive analysis quickly reveals that we must indeed limit and eventually halt greenhouse gas emissions.

OPEC countries will continue their unstoppable increases of petroleum prices. Electric cars, CNG powered cars, and hydrogen powered cars cannot stop carbon dioxide emissions perceptibly and will not make our country independent of OPEC imports. Automotive companies are critically dependent on the fickle and changing preferences of national and international markets.

Industrial companies that follow political hype will be punished sooner or later. Governments are incapable of designing automobiles for the market place. The world is relegated to using automobiles, trucks, trains, ships, and airplanes for the next century and will have to power most of them with liquid transportation fuels. We may be able to use less of them, we will be able to reduce energy consumption, we can use other forms of energy for some transportation, and we can produce petroleum substitutes from biomass. We can even produce biomass without competing with critically important food crops.

In order to minimize fuel consumption quickly, the auto industry is forced to deal with performance features. American drivers cannot avoid covering much longer distances than European or Japanese drivers. American drivers have less access to public transportation, have larger families, and drive on different types of roads. Automotive companies must listen to their customers.

Toyota and Honda have been listening most successfully. American and foreign car companies have developed a wide range of comfortable cars with a wide variety of utilitarian and luxury features. Sportive cars and SUV’s are attracting large numbers of buyers. All cars offer a wide selection of comfort and entertainment features. One major car component has received only peripheral attention; it is the much maligned internal combustion engine.

Many modern internal combustion engines are marvels of engineering. Materials, manufacturing processes, and especially peripheral components have progressed to unprecedented levels of performance and longevity. There is a last frontier that has escaped deserved attention. This is the highly energy efficient combustion engine. This is the type of engine that the automotive engine needs to develop, this is the engine that legislators should make mandatory.

This is the engine that we need to use for at least one more century. Long term the automotive industry has to develop an entirely new, advanced, internal combustion engine! Average energy efficiency of the worlds inventory of combustion engines is somewhere in the lower mid-twenties. Energy efficiency cannot grow indefinitely. When approaching the 50% efficiency mark, it will be difficult and very expensive to increase efficiency by a single percent. Advanced automotive engines are operating in the mid-thirties.

Large stationary engines are breaking the 45% mark. Large engines on trains and ships are getting above 40%. Looking at the total world inventory, we may still have a chance to nearly double energy efficiency and to cut energy consumption of present inventory in half. We cannot reach this goal by legislating fuel consumption of cars only. We can achieve optimum energy efficiency only by reengineering the processes taking place within and around the internal combustion space.

We know that higher compression ratios will increase energy efficiency, we know how to produce high octane fuel, we know why Diesel engines are more efficient, we know how to minimize formation of pollutants. The automotive industry has developed a huge selection of sophisticated electronic components for single cylinder fuel injection, for precise controls of valve motion and ignition timing, and for reclaiming waste energy at the exhaust.

No company seems to have found the nerve to get a jump on the competition and develop the successor to the two more than century old engine concepts; the Otto and the Diesel engines. If the US government decides to extend a $25 billion loan to the automotive industry, it should attach a few conditions. The loan needs to be secured and must take precedent over shareholder equity. The loan should stipulate that the salaries of top management are tethered to salaries of other top CEO’s like that of the US President.

The obscene bonuses of yesterday should be paid only after a waiting period of at least five years; in which previously agreed upon management objectives must have been met or exceeded. We must stop the prevalent looting of cash from US manufacturing companies by unscrupulous investors. These investors do not contribute anything of lasting value. They are excessively rewarded for ruining once healthy companies. We cannot continue to let a selected few impoverish the many and ruin our country irreparably.

A lot of people are looking for certain options that could help them save money. A great portion of the monthly budget is allotted for gasoline expenses. Now, there is an effective way of cutting down gas expenses and that is through a hydrogen-assist fuel cell.

You already know what hydrogen is and that it makes up a large portion of the Earth’s atmosphere. However, not all the hydrogen present here on Earth are usable as fuel. The hydrogen must first be converted into a usable form before people can benefit from it.

For many years, scientists and researchers have looked for efficient and effective sources of energy. One of the possible solutions for today’s energy crisis is hydrogen. Hydrogen can be turned into usable fuel that can be used in modern homes and even vehicles.

In fact, some cars now have fuel cells. The cars make use of hydrogen fuel. The fuel cells are not as expensive as you think. If you like to build things, then you can certainly build a hydrogen-assist fuel cell. Try to conduct a research and know the different parts of a fuel cell that is used in cars. Once you determine the parts, you can now purchase them in a local hardware store. The parts are not that complicated, so don’t you worry.

If you think that shopping for fuel cell parts is quite hard, then you have another option. You can purchase a fuel cell kit. The parts needed to build the fuel cell are already included on the kit as well as an instruction manual. What you need to do is to read the instructions carefully before you touch the various fuel cell parts. As much as possible, you must know what you’re doing so that there will be no room for mistakes. You can’t afford to make a mistake; otherwise, the fuel cell will not work.

A typical car fuel cell is made up of a water container, vacuum hose, electrical wirings, and baking soda. You have to connect the parts the proper way for it to be effective. You should be able to connect the HHO generator to the car battery. Most cars that use hydrogen fuel today still use gas. In fact, if they can’t find a hydrogen station, the car will still run on gas. The cars are often called hybrid cars or dual- tank cars.

Hydrogen-assist fuel cell is not difficult to build. But if this is your first time to do a DIY activity, it would be best to get a fuel cell kit so that everything you need is already there. From the parts to the instruction manual; so don’t settle for using gas to power your car engine. Why not try using hydrogen fuel instead? You can even use both gasoline and hydrogen fuel.

If you’re able to build a fuel cell, you will notice that the gasoline costs are not as high as it used to be. You will only purchase gasoline if you run out of hydrogen fuel in the middle of nowhere. But you know, water is available almost anywhere. Most fuel cells use water since it contains hydrogen.

The car is powered efficiently and you can even double the distance of your driving. Plus, you don’t contribute to the pollution that pesters the human race for many years now.

Try out the hydrogen-assist fuel cell now.