The European Union’s emissions trading scheme is starting to behave like a true stockmarket with its own bubbles and crashes. A radical drop in prices will break any trader’s heart (if she is wrongly positioned in the market) and a 55% drop in prices is indeed a massive crash. Ouch! The FT reports today that the “CO2 emission futures for December 2006 delivery fell to a record low of 14 Euros…from a record high of 31 Euros reached (only) last week“. There is definitely a lesson here for all of us! You can monitor CO2 emission prices here.

According to the FT the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says that “the car industry needs to reduce carbon dioxide emissions five times faster than last year and sell 20 times as many alternative fuel vehicles to hit targets for cutting greenhouse gases“. This almost seems like mission impossible when you take into account the fact that there is very little being done to promote alternative vehicles in practice.

Simply walk into your nearest car dealership and request an electric, LPG or bioethanol vehicle. You’ll probably receive a funny look and a strong pitch to buy a diesel car. You can’t blame the dealers since they simply want to sell what is available on their forecourt (or cars that can easily be sourced). Obviously, they are also big fans of cars that they can service with minimal training hassle.

While the mainstream industry is carrying on as usual, you will find that we at Fuelture are rolling up our sleaves to provide a network of LPG car dealers that can provide you with LPG cars, a service network to take care of your LPG cars during their working lives, and LPG fuel cards that also quantify your emissions savings. Our company is built around two buzz phrases that go hand in hand: “REDUCE COSTS” and “LOWER EMISSIONS“.

The LPG conversion industry is a self-regulated one, so a company does not need any certification in order to provide this service to you in the UK. Unfortunately, this means that customers can be exposed to low quality equipment and poorly trained staff, resulting in “horrific” and possibly very cheap LPG conversions.

At last what we at Fuelture have been pleading for, some regulation that helps to isolate the less scrupulous operators in this aftermarket industry, is on its way.

Matthew Carrington, RMIF chief executive, last week, commenting on the Parliament Road Safety Bill Committee discussion of 20 April: “Clause 56 of the Bill will empower the Secretary of State to introduce regulations which will require MOT testing stations to ensure that the annual test takes into account that such cars have been modified” (source: Auto Industry News).

At Fuelture, we have always offered the highest quality of LPG equipment installed by highly trained (LPGA approved) engineers. Our LPG conversion service welcomes annual tests for the vehicles that we convert.

LPG car drivers throughout the UK must have smiled at the Conservative Party’s new stance on road tax. The Financial Times has an article titled “Cameron could cut taxes for greener car users“, the article goes on to say that “motorists with gas-guzzling cars could be hit with higher road tolls and pay more for car parks”. LPG car drivers already enjoy the benefits of an excise duty tax break on the fuel, many LPG car owners enjoy a 100% discount off the London Congestion Charge (a saving of up to 1,500 pounds a year!), and some councils already provide LPG car drivers with free parking. So when it comes to green taxes, I say bring ‘em on!

LPG pump price is still looking very attractive! After reading an article in The Guardian that once again discusses the prospect of 100p/litre unleaded petrol prices throughout the UK, I took a look at petrolprices.com (a website that gathers information on fuel prices from stations throughout the UK). We might be looking at extended working hours at Fuelture…Take a look at how much you could be saving with LPG at the current fuel prices.

Woke up to another modified Google logo.

Did a quick search on Earth Day and guess what? We can’t even agree on the right day to celebrate our planet (although we really should do this everyday).

The “official” website of the International Earth Day insists that Earth Day is not on 22nd of April as stated on a US government website. Apparently, the historical date is linked to the March equinox! So far many of you have struck the right note for the planet today by requesting a quote for a Fuelture LPG conversion.

Before Fuelture was launched, we spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the range of alternative fuel options available to the UK motorist. Although adopting LPG may not make sense for every motorist, our conclusion is that LPG clearly stands out as the alternative fuel of choice in the UK. Here are a couple of reasons:

1. The UK is self-sufficient: we use much less LPG than we produce. LPG is an alternative fuel that is mainly exported.
2. The UK now has a network of LPG stations with around 1,300 outlets. There is probably 1 station within 10 miles of 90% of the UK population.
3. Over 300 garages have been approved (by the LPGA) to convert cars to LPG and many more are able to maintain them during their working lives.
4. LPG technology is well proven and well adapted to modern engine management sytems. With LPG technology suppliers servicing a world market of over 8 million LPG cars, you are unlikely to feel like a guinea pig.
5. You can still drive the car of your dreams. There is a wide range of cars that can be converted to run on LPG (you are not restricted to three models for hybrid cars, or two models for bioethanol!).
6. The fuel’s environmental credentials, both in relation to green house emissions and air quality, are undisputed. How many car fuels can you happily combust indoors?

I could give you a couple more reasons why this fuel is the main alternative (not mainstream) fuel for the UK today and probably tomorrow, but I would prefer it if you had your say.