Needless to say, I’m very happy to announce that Biofriendly Corporation’s Green Plus® Liquid Combustion Catalyst has been approved by the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ), as an alternative diesel fuel formulation solution in Texas.

What does that mean?  Well, it means that diesel fuel producers, diesel importers, retailers and other who need to meet the Texas Low Emission Diesel (TxLED) requirements for lowered emissions, now have an effective fuel additive solution – Green Plus.

For a little background info, the Texas Low Emission Diesel program was set up to lower the emissions of smog-forming pollutants commonly produced from diesel-powered motor vehicles and non-road equipment (tractors, bulldozers, etc.) in over 100 counties throughout Texas, where air quality is a concern.

In order for Green Plus to get this approval, it was put through a series of stringent Federal Test Procedures.  The results of these tests proved that Green Plus reduced harmful emissions to a level equivalent to a cleaner diesel blend.  How clean?  As clean as the lowest emission, mass produced diesel in the world.

This means Texans now have a feasible and effective liquid combustion catalyst for use in helping lower harmful diesel emissions.  And don’t forget an added bonus: with more complete burns and cleaner engines come lower maintenance costs.  All in all, it’s a great step towards cleaning up the air and reducing smog-forming pollutants in Texas. Congratulations to the State of Texas and Biofriendly Corporation!

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I’m sure you’ve noticed the price of gasoline is on the rise again.  The price for unleaded gas where I live in Southern California is right around $3.00/gallon whereas a little over two months ago (on April 16, 2009) it was “just” $2.25/gallon.  In two months it’s gone up about $0.75/gallon…that’s quite an increase.

But what can you do to ensure you aren’t wasting the gas you do buy?  Yes, you can do smart things like car-pool to work, use public transportation, limit your trips, walk, ride your bike, etc.  And of course if you have an electric car, you don’t need to worry about that.  For those who don’t have electric cars, how do you know whether or not you are wasting gas every time you drive your car?

Well, to make it simple, there are hydrocarbons in gasoline and diesel that tend to bundle together.  When they do this, oxygen can’t fully reach the fuel and thus it can’t burn completely.  This results in exhaust and the partially burnt molecules contribute to pollution and the harmful emissions that come from your car.  Basically you are wasting gas and harming the environment by not ensuring you get a more complete burn from your gasoline.

How do you get that more complete burn though?  I’m sure there are various ways, but thankfully a good fuel additive like Green Plus™  (created by Biofriendly Corporation) will help the hydrocarbons in your gasoline or diesel to unbundle.  The unbundling exposes them more to oxygen and therefore allows them to be able to burn more completely.

The result is not only a better use of the gasoline you are paying for, but you reduce the harmful emissions from your car and get better fuel efficiency as well.  It’s a win-win all around.  So before you burn a hole in your wallet from rising gas prices, make sure you car in completely burning your gasoline instead.

The air pollution restrictions proposed last month by the EPA to the International Maritime Organization to establish a 200 nautical mile virtual perimeter around the lower 48 states, Anchorage and the seven populated Hawaiian islands are a breathe of fresh air.  The new restrictions would require ships including tankers, cruise ships, cargo ships and many other large vessels to use low-sulfur fuel or new technology which would ensure they emit less sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and soot within 20 nautical miles of the U.S.

With ports across the U.S., including many major ports right here in Southern California, such as the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, bringing in the vast majority of all U.S. imports, establishing air pollution control for ships is long overdue.

According to the post from the Journal of Commerce, the Port of Long Beach is gearing up towards a $750 million dollar Middle Harbor redevelopment project.  The Long Beach Harbor Commission is scheduled to cast their vote on April 13th for the proposed project which apparently increases marine terminal capacity while reducing pollution.  Diesel emissions are estimated to be reduced by 50% through a series of planned environmental measures including vessels being required to operate from shore-side electrical power while at berth.  Vessels will also have to use low-sulfur fuel in their main and auxiliary engines as they transit to and from berth.

Another company right in line to help with the new proposed air pollution restrictions for marine vessels is Biofriendly Corporation.  With years of sea-trials already complete and certified test results from accredited laboratories, Biofriendly Corporation’s Green Plus™ has been proven to not only improve marine vessel emissions and fuel economy but reduce maintenance needs as well.

Marine vessels ranging from harbor tugboats and ferries to 150,000 dwt oil tankers and container ships have already achieved results by adding Green Plus to their heavy fuel oil or marine diesel.  So, as the new air pollution restrictions get put into place to clean up our ports and the air around them, shipping companies would be wise to check out using a proven marine fuel additive such as Green Plus.

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There’s all this talk about “Clean Coal”, but how do you clean coal?  To be honest, I don’t really think you can.  How do you clean something that is so dirty?  Coal is a dirty substance, it’s dirty and messy from start to finish.  You can’t really argue that fact.  So, what can be done then about all the coal-fired power plants across the U.S. and around the world?

Well, that’s a different question.  Many people have their ideas about what to do, from shutting all coal-fired plants down to regulating them so they are accountable for significantly reducing their pollution, etc, etc.  But has anyone come up with anything that actually reduces the CO2 emissions and pollution that comes from burning the coal?

Yes, I’m happy to say Biofriendly Corporation has.  I know I’ve blogged about it before, but I thought it was something worth mentioning again, especially after President Obama talked about investing in clean coal tecnnologies in his recent speech,

“So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.  And to support that innovation, we will invest fifteen billion dollars a year to develop technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and more fuel-efficient cars and trucks built right here in America.”

Well, the good news is Biofriendly Corporation now has a liquid combustion catalyst that has been tested and proven to improve thermal efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions in coal-fired power plants.  Trials showed reduction in unburned carbon (aka Loss on Ignition) of up to 55%.  So while we may never see “clean coal”, we can see coal being burned more completely and thus producing less harmful emissions.  Coal companies can now start doing something effective to lessen their harmful emissions.  It may not be the end-all solution, but it sure helps!!

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Fuel additives, fuel enhancers and many other products that promise lowered harmful emissions and better fuel economy may not be exactly what you are looking for.  If you really want to get results, what you need is an actual liquid combustion catalyst.

First of all, what is a catalyst?  A catalyst is commonly defined as a substance that initiates or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected.  With a true liquid combustion catalyst you are not altering the chemistry of the fuel you have in your vehicle, you are simply – and with the right catalyst, effectively – helping the existing fuel burn more completely.

One of the problems with most fuel is the hydrocarbons tend to cluster, which makes it more difficult for the oxygen to reach all the fuel.  This creates the duel problem of lower performance and the production of exhaust and harmful emissions (as a result of an incomplete fuel burn).

With a liquid combustion catalyst like Biofriendly Corporation’s Green Plus, you can effectively un-bundle the hydrocarbon clusters in the fuel because the ambient oxygen fed into the engine will now be able to better reach more of the fuel, thus allowing a more complete burn.  An added benefit is you don’t get the explosive shattering that usually accompanies a combustion process.

So, when you look for a product to help lower your vehicle’s harmful emissions and/or increase your fuel economy, go for a tested and proven liquid combustion catalyst.  You and your vehicle will be thankful you did.

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Anyone who reads this pretty much already knows that isn’t true.  There are so many companies and so many stories out there about what works, what doesn’t work, how you can make fuel additives yourself, etc.  Everyone wants you to use their fuel additive not the next guy’s.

Some claim to lower your fuel costs, others state they will reduce octane number requirements, some guarantee up to 90% decrease in emissions, while other talk about increasing mileage.  There are probably MANY workable and viable fuel additives on the market.  As far as I am concerned, if it helps to lower harmful emissions and improve performance (of course an added bonus of better fuel economy is great too), then it probably is worth checking out.

The fuel additive industry (for the most part) is trying to provide a solution for an existing problem.  And yes, everyone could go out and replace their existing vehicles with hybrids or gas stations could swap out their existing pumps for biofuel pumps.  But is that really going to happen in the near future?  No, it’s not – there is headway being made for sure, but like a lot of green advancements, there is a lot of room to grow.

Now I’ll be honest, I do work for Biofriendly Corporation and so I am a little biased in terms of my feeling that Green Plus™ (which is not just a typical additive but an actual combustion catalyst) is the way to go.  However, there is one important fact to keep in mind….there are so many millions of vehicles on the road and so many millions of people driving them, if even just a portion of them used a fuel additive….any workable fuel additive (with certified test results to back it up)…the world would be a lot cleaner.

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I have to be honest, the whole idea of clean coal just didn’t make sense to me.  How can you make coal clean?  What is clean coal technology anyway?  Well, for starters, Wikipedia defines clean coal technology as “an umbrella term used in the promotion of the use of coal as an energy source by emphasizing methods being developed to reduce its environmental impact.”

So, the basic idea is how to make coal less harmful to the environment when burning it as a source of energy.  That’s great in theory, but is there a workable solution?  Many organizations and groups feel that coal should no longer be used as an energy resource due to it being the source of 40% of U.S. CO2 emissions.

However there are others who see the need to take the existing (widely used) resource and make it more environmentally-friendly.  Let’s face facts, at least for now, coal-fired utility industries are going to continue to burn coal.  The challenge for them is how to make their coal burning less harmful to the environment.

I’m proud to say that Biofriendly Corporation has risen to the challenge and after years of exhaustive research and trials, the R&D team has been able to develop a version of Green Plus™ for use in coal-fired utilities.  It’s very exciting as testing has shown a reduction in LOI (Loss on Ignition) of up to 55%.  (Full article here)  And using Green Plus liquid fuel catalyst has also shown a significant reduction in harmful emissions from coal-fired power plants, with an added bonus of reported thermal efficiency improvements as high as 4%.

Looks like there might be a future for coal to get cleaner and greener.  If a liquid fuel catalyst can make a coal-fired power plant more efficient and lower the harmful emissions from the coal, I’d say that’s a good step in the right direction.

It’s interesting how shocking information can appear when not all the facts are given.  Such is the case between the EPA and Biofriendly Corporation (manufacturer of Green Plus™, a liquid fuel catalyst designed and proven to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions).

The EPA published a press release about the settlement with Biofriendly Corporation.  What this press release didn’t state was that the EPA granted Biofriendly a product registration in 2001, which the company had understood met the registration requirements. 

Since neither the EPA nor Biofriendly could agree on what happened and were unable to reconcile, Biofriendly had only two choices – a) litigate and drag the pending product registration on for potentially years or b) settle.  What would you have done?

When you have a viable product that can make a difference in the fuel additive arena, you need to get it on the market and not mess around with red tape and disagreements.  So, they settled.  Then the EPA granted Biofriendly new registrations for Green Plus (EPA registration numbers: 1832-0004; 1832-0005; 1832-0006 granted in August & September 2008).

In addition, certified testing was conducted for the State of Texas in 2004 and 2005 and subsequently for the EPA to demonstrate Green Plus’ efficacy and safety.  Green Plus passed these tests along with dozens of others in government certified labs across the globe.

So to make a long story shorter….Green Plus has been successfully used in countries around the world and the EPA registration confusion is over.

Just had to get my two-cents in there.   Check it out for yourself, click here and see how Green Plus lowers vehicle emissions, improves fuel economy and delivers more power. 

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Okay, we all pretty much know at this point, that every time we get into a car, get on the bus or get in a plane we are contributing to air pollution and adding harmful CO2 emissions to our environment.

But, our mode of transportation determines how much of an affect we are having on the environment around us. 

Let’s take a trip from Pasadena, CA to Las Vegas, NV – which is about 262 miles.  Did you know if you drove out there in a small car your CO2 emissions would be about 53.8 kg?  In a large car it would be about 108.5 kg.  The train is 25.4 kg per person and the bus only 12.2 kg.  A plane trip out there (not including transportation to the airport) is about 73.9 kg per person.

However, if you add a few friends to your large car (rather than each of you taking your own cars), your large car CO2 emissions are about 27.1 kg per person.  And that goes down even further with an efficient fuel additive or liquid fuel enhancer like Biofriendly Corporation’s Green Plus®.

So when you start figuring out your holiday trips, factor that in.  Go to Transportdirect.info to check the estimated CO2 emissions for your trip, then determine which mode of transportation is best for you and the environment.

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Everyone is trying to save gas – it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are – you are probably doing something to save gas.  Fuel economy is important to us all and I’d personally like to think our recent efforts to save gas are helping to bring down the price of oil too.

But did you know the roads you drive over every day could also be having an affect on your fuel economy?  The culprit….potholes.

Per the Auto Club of Southern California, California has the second-worst road conditions in the nation resulting in $500 per vehicle per year being spent on needless repairs because of bad pavement conditions and potholes.

Potholes can cause serious damage to a vehicle’s frame, the suspension and the tires themselves.  Tire damage or improperly inflated tires have been proven to lower gas mileage and a mis-aligned vehicle wreaks havoc on fuel economy, not to mention the added wear and tear it causes if not fixed.

Per Fueleconomy.gov you can improve your gas mileage up to 3% just by keeping your tires properly inflated and another 4% by ensuring your vehicle is properly tuned.  Another way to help is using a fuel additive such as Biofriendly Corporation’s Green Plus®, which helps produce a better and more complete combustion of your vehicle’s fuel, thus saving gas and reducing harmful emissions.

So the next time you see a pothole, first try to avoid it and then contact your city’s public works department.  In Los Angeles go to the Bureau of Street Services and submit a pothole repair request online.

It’s simple, but by doing these few steps you can improve fuel economy and the life of your vehicle.