TPT May 2007

C ontents

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E ditorial I ndex

Fuelling – the debate My brother-in-law recently made the rather expensive mistake of topping up his diesel car with some petrol for a trip down to London (and back). Such a simple but expensive mistake is not uncommon – apparently he joins an estimated 120,000 UK drivers (say the AA), and surely a whole lot more worldwide. In the USA, the problem is less frequent due to a different nozzle system. Such mistakes only serve to remind us of the increasing number of choices for refuelling our cars. As the automobile industry has changed dramatically – driven by environmental, competitive and economic factors – so our fuel choices are set to increase, with hydrogen, ethanol, E85 and other biodiesel variants all contenders. With automobile production still in overdrive, greener and smaller cars with less flash are appealing to consumers. In 2008, Honda will begin low volume production of its new FCX Concept hydrogen fuel-cell car, in addition to a new-style diesel car. And the growing popularity of ethanol (either sugar cane or cellulosic) in the USA indicates a newly favoured fuel to reduce the dependence on Russian and Middle East oil. This change in technology is reflected by the turmoil in the global automobile industry. US and west European manufacturers are facing stiff competition from China’s ploy of imitation, Japan’s advanced technology, and the rise of cheap east European manufacturing.

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I ndustry N ews

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T echnology U pdate

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O il & G as N ews

100 F rom T he A mericas

160 A dvertisers I ndex

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And, of course, the innovation of our tube and pipe world is playing an increasingly important role in the design and production of new automobile components (see the bending feature from pages 106- 153). All that is required now is for some bright spark to invent a foolproof method of putting the right fuel in our cars!

Rich Sears Editor • Email: richard@intras.co.uk

Incorporating Tube & Pipe Asia

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