Insurance
The Chancellor’s fuel cut gamble appears to be backfiring with the average price of petrol already higher than before the Budget, according to the RAC.
It has only been two weeks since George Osborne announced the 1p fuel duty cut with a flourish at the end of his Budget statement in the House of Commons.
“The volatile oil market has meant that drivers have seen very little benefit from the duty cut. Prices are continuing to spiral upwards with no end in sight to the high prices,” said RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink.
According to calculations by the Daily Mirror, motorists have only benefitted by 27p since the Budget, while the AA reckons that since last year alone the average tank of petrol has gone up by f7.
The grand gesture has come at a big cost for the Chancellor, however. The 1p cut has lost the Treasury f2bn, and the attempt made to recoup that by taxing North Sea oil producers more heavily has robbed him of some of his political credibility.
AA public affairs head Paul Watters said: “The Government’s delay of the fuel duty increase prevented thousands of poorer drivers from being tipped into road fuel poverty and the 1p cut in duty was very welcome.
“However, the Chancellor must feel like King Canute trying to stop a tide of rising fuel prices that threaten to swamp family budgets, business survival and economic recovery.”
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Source: http://www.eurocarblog.com/tag/mercedes+e63
The is a hot-looking and fast-running new AMG model from the brand that has been revealed at the . The E63 AMG is equipped with the new 5.5-litre V8 twin turbo M157 engine which we’ve already seen on the Mercedes CLS 63 AMG. The E-Class AMG will be offered in two powersteps of 525 and 557 hp. The later is the AMG Performance Package, which also takes torque from 700 to 800 Nm.
According to Mercedes, the new V8, which gets Start&Stop technology, consumes 22 percent less fuel that the previous model, down to 9.8 l/100 km with CO2 emissions of 230 g/km. Transmission is the seven-speed Speedshift MCT gearbox with driving modes of Controlled Efficiency, Sport, Sport+ and Manual. Handling is managed by the AMG Ride Control system with seven different suspension settings and a new hydro-electric steering set-up.
New 18-inch wheels get 255/40 tyres up front and 285/35 at the rear. An optional carbon-ceramic braking system is available which reduces the brake weight by 40 percent. The E63 AMG gets to 100 km/hr in 4.3 seconds, and has a top speed of 250 km/hr. That can be raised to 300 km/hr with a new package which also includes a sports driving course. The AMG Performance Package throws in a carbon-fibre engine cover, Alcantara sports steering wheel, red brake callipers and some carbon-fibre trim on the front bumper.
:: Electronic cigarettes do not only look like actual cigarettes but they also make users feel they’re like the real one. Even if they do emit smoke, they truly don’t contain tobacco. What users will inhale is nicotine vapour that looks really significantly like ordinary smoke but with no carcinogens and elements that may be harmful to the smoker as well as the folks around him.
An electronic cigarette is made of a nicotine cartridge that has liquid nicotine inside it. As the user inhales, a small battery-run atomizer converts the tiny amount of liquid nicotine and turns it into vapour. Unlike gums or patches, the user will get a nicotine hit in just a matter of seconds after inhaling the vapour. A small LED found at the tip of the electronic cigarette will glow an orange colour every time the user inhales simulating an actual cigarette.
Although an electronic cigarette seems like any conventional cigarette you can find several obvious differences. They necessitate some sort of advanced planning on the part of the users since they must ensure that the battery is well charged. But since they can be plugged anywhere like in a regular house outlet with the use of a portable charger, that should not really pose serious problems. They just have to make certain to bring a charger with them in case they have to have it charged. For like little difference, users ought to truly think about utilizing electronic cigarettes as a method to decrease the risk of tobacco consumption.
The nice thing about electronic cigarettes compared to other cigarette alternatives for example patches is that the users to a specific degree are still able to obtain some satisfaction with their tobacco craving. Considerably like typical smoking, it is possible to still in fact feel the warm tobacco smoke filling up your lungs if you inhale. Whenever you exhale, the smoke puffs out of your lungs comparable to how you do it with typical smoking. The only difference is the smoke that comes in and out of your lungs is made up of much healthier water vapour that does not that pose health risk to people around you since it evaporates quickly.
It must be noted though that an electronic cigarette is not a tool to stop smoking since users are still inhaling nicotine. But it offers a better alternative since it has no tobacco content which removes the risk of second-hand smoking. Another benefit it offers is the absence of smell on your clothes, skin, and hair. Because there’s no smell, smokers can freely use it in closed areas like inside the automobile and indoors.
Source: http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Andrew-Scherer-8708/Electronic-Cigarette-Direct-185302.php
Biofuel from algae is not a loud noise in the challenge to find alternative fuels. But it will be. Algae biofuel offers us a great deal of hope in our battle against fossil fuels.
Hybrid electric automobiles typically steal most of the spotlight when it comes to the idea of ‘green’ vehicles, cars which reduce their environmental impact by consuming small amounts of gasoline or limiting the emissions produced by their operation. Gasoline / electric hybrids certainly lead this charge, but bringing up the rear are an entire host of alternative fuels which promise to provide a similar driving experience with either ultra-clean emissions or no emissions at all. The contenders include ethanol produced from corn or other vegetable matter, biodiesel which also originates from plants, or even propane and natural gas.
One type of fuel which rarely sees mention also happens to be one which appears to offer a great deal of promise for the future. Algae, a type of plant life that is found in abundance in oceans all over the world, can actually produce a significant amount of natural oil that can be used as a fuel source. Marine algae is not familiar to most North American drivers, but in Asian countries where the population has a closer relationship to the sea algae and other types of ocean agriculture are nothing new. Recent investments in the development of algae-based fuels have been brought on by the increase in fossil fuel prices, and some of the results have been staggering.
It turns out that not only is marine algae a viable fuel source, but it also packs a much more concentrated punch than other biofuels. In fact, it is estimated that compared to the most potent fuel crops grown on land, algae can squeeze 30 times more energy out of a single acre. Advances in marine agriculture have created algae farms where special growing tubes can help produce 100,000 gallons of oil out of a single acre.
These impressive numbers have drawn a lot of attention in the alternative fuel community, and for good reason. Aquatic agriculture does not use huge amounts of landmass like corn growing does, allowing that area to be put to better use growing foodstuffs or sustaining livestock. Algae is also fairly inexpensive to cultivate, requiring only water, sunlight and the right conditions to propagate quickly. It can also use water that has been deemed too polluted for standard agriculture without affecting its yield – even raw sewage. This helps to ensure that algae growth will not absorb resources which could be better used in other areas of the economy.
The price of breaking free from the traditional fossil fuel chains that encircle the world’s economy is innovation, and looking towards algae-base initiatives seems to point towards an answer that is not only effective, but also non-destructive to the environment. The rapid growth of algae helps to ensure that establishing an infrastructure of oil-producing plants would take a very reasonable amount of time, and its hardiness means that even cities, historically not associated with agriculture would be able to house algae production facilities. Mankind emerged from the ocean millions of years ago, and it seems as though the circle of evolution has been closed once again as we now look back to the sea for the answer to our future.