Every petrol pump in Britain will be prepay by 2011 because of the rise in fuel theft, say industry bosses. The soaring cost of fuel has seen an increase in instances of people driving off from forecourts without paying. Petrol retailers say their fuel theft bill has risen by several million pounds.

The prepay system, where drivers have to swipe a debit or credit card at the pump before they can get any petrol, is already used widely in the USA. The amount the driver has spent is automatically deducted from the swiped card, making it impossible not to pay for filling up. Some UK forecourts already have the prepay system, particularly those at supermarkets. Petrol stations will still be manned by staff selling items from the shop, such as "mens magasines", Ginsters Pasties and solar torches.

A recent poll by the AA has shown that 56 per cent of motorists said they would not be travelling at all over the bank holiday weekend, half of those who do intend to get the car out will be going on day trips rather than longer getaways.

This figure compares with just 17 per cent who intended to take a day trip last August bank holiday. Of those staying at home, 23 per cent said the cost of fuel was the main reason to stay at home ann watch a James Bond re-ru.

Personally I 'd rather stay at home than join the queues on my nearest motorway. 

A Local Government Association survey recently published has shown that the annual number of dumped cars in the UK has dropped from 290,000 to 71,000 as recyclers employ more sophisticated techniques to get the most valuable elements from a car. 

In the past scrap merchants would have charged up to £50 to take away your banger. Now car breakers and scrap yards will pay up to £200 for your rusty rider, because of the price of steel, aluminium and copper found in the body, wheels and wiring. Cars with reusable parts will fetch much more.

Recycling companies are exporting steel to Spain and Turkey for £150 to £200 a tonne, aluminium to China for up to £1,200 a tonne and copper to China, India and the United States for £3,000 a tonne.

Sales figures released by the Motor Cycle Industry have shown that last month motorbike sales have jumped 22% amid soaring fuel and road tax prices. Motorcycle Dealers are reporting very high interest from new customers in practical commuter-type bikes. Motorcycle test centres are also reporting they are booked solid with people wanting to take bike tests ahead of the test changes due to take effect in October. The biggest-selling UK bikes in July the Yamaha YZF R125 (pictured left) and the YBR 125 - reflecting an increasing demand for smaller-engined two wheeled machines.

Hot on the heels of "The Sun" the Peterborough Evening Telegraph have also published an article of Hypermiling. Page 6 of todays edition shows the IT worker "Nerd" still sporting his face fuzz with his trusty laptop (his only friend) at his side. The interest in Hypermiling seems to be gaining momentum in the UK as motorists see the kind of fuel savings to be made from Hypermiling.

For those insomniacs out there, I will be on BBC 5 Live Sunday morning at 01:00 (did I mention I have a 1 year old) and also on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire on Monday at 07:30.

Following todays Hypermiling artcile in the Sun we have not only been inundated with visitors interested in Hypermiling but also the site has attracted a great deal of press interest. I have taken part in a live radio interview on the BBC 3 Counties Radio to discuss Hypermiling, the wesite will also be featured in Peterborough's Evening Telegraph newspaper in the next day or so. I will also be taking part in another radio interview with BBC Radio 5 Live early Sunday morning.

I am very pleased with the warm welcome the UK has given Hypermiling and I hope the site helps people to not only do their bit for the environment but also for their wallets.

Second-hand values of the UK's family cars are plummeting so fast that garages are now branding the largest gas-guzzling 'Chelsea tractors' worthless. Sources in the motor trade also confirmed that some dealers are refusing to take them in part-exchange. As demand for steel soars many owners may actually see their vehicles worth more in scrap metal that their resale value.

High demand for the UKs most cars with low carbon dioxide emissions has meant that they are in short supply. For example buyer ording The Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion will have to wait up 9 months for delivery. Volkswagons baby green machine emits less than 100g CO2/km whichs classes it exempt from UK road tax, thats a great incentive! Check out our Best Cars for Hypermiling Page more more information on the UK's greenest cars and the new road duty vehicle classifications.

I was quite surprised yesterday to find an email from the Sun Newspaper asking if they could talk to me about the site, I was even more surprised to see nearly a full page (p.30) dedicated to Hypermiling and its techniques. Click Here for the article on The Sun's Website, the scanned page to come soon. Hopefully this will encourage people to start thinking more about their MPG to help both the environment and their wallets too.

Just for the record, I live in Stamford (Lincs) and would not consider myself a "Nerd"

Research by the Aberdeen University and Ecolane Limited has shown that UK motorists are now much more focused on reducing fuel costs than had been shown by earlier studies. The research by Dr Jillian Anable (Aberdeen University) and Dr Ben Lane (Ecolane Limited) suggests that, as fuel costs have risen, a significant annual fuel cost threshold has now been breached. This has led to a step-change in car buying behaviour and has prompted a move to smaller, more efficient (greener) cars.

Figures have shown that car sales in the mini-sector saw a growth of 120% in May, and is up 27.4% over the year to date while registrations of 4x4s fell 18% in the same month.

Judging from the increasing interest that Hypermiling in the UK is getting we would have to agree!!

Buying any car is very rarely an investment, especially if you have recently brought a high emissions fuel hungry model. With record fuel prices huge numbers of people are opting for the a green alternative. In the US the Toyota Prius with its MPG inflating Hybrid Synergy Drive system are actually increasing in value from the forecourt prices. An new Toyota Prius requires about US $26,672 to take home. The used version, with fewer than 10,000 miles, goes for around US $27,945. That's right, nearly US $1,300 more. This is mostly due to a shortage of Toyota's flagship Hybrid, Toyota have responded to this huge demand by increasing Prius production.

Fuel giant BP faces demands for a windfall tax as it announced 'obscene' half-year profits of £6.75billion on the back of record fuel prices.

With motorists, businesses and hauliers facing increasing pain at the pumps, the company's profits rose to around £37million a day or £430 a second - an increase of 23 per cent on the same period last year. In the second quarter alone, the oil giant made profits of £3.44billion, an increase of 6 per cent on a year ago.

UK Fuel prices have risen 20% from this time last year when the UK avaerage for unleaded fuel was 96.7p per litre. The UK Average stands a 116.8p per litre today.

BP defended its record profits, insisting it makes less than 1p in profit on every litre of petrol sold at its UK filling stations

Its not a scene from Hollywoods lastest disaster movie, LA is being swarmed by cyclists fed up with soring fuel prices and are now taking to the intimidating, multi-lane thoroughfares of Los Angeles, some even defying the law and whizzing between the stationary cars on the gridlocked freeways.

The result is a city of diehard motorists in need of some anger management. Criminal charges have already been filed against one driver accused of deliberately braking in front of two cyclists in the wealthy suburb of Mandeville Canyon — home of the world's most famous Hummer-driving road hog, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Both cyclists ended up in hospital.

Bicycle sales have increased by 14.6 percent over the past five years among European Union nations, which buy 70 percent of the bikes worldwide, according to Bike Europe. In the United States, sales have increased by almost 9 percent in the same time period.

A recent poll by the AA found that 55 percent of their members had reduced their car usage with 10 percent of motorists opting to cut back on having their vehicles serviced.

With a litre of petrol now costing an average of 117.9 pence, 21 pence more than a year ago, the AA estimates the annual cost of petrol for a car travelling 9,000 miles (14,480 km) has risen to over 1,200 pounds.

Higher fuel prices have also had a knock-on effect of increasing by 11 percent the AA's rate for call-outs by people who have run out of petrol.

"People who are used to putting in 20 pounds' worth find it runs out one third earlier this year," said AA president Edmund King. "Others are shopping around for a bargain but never find one, so run out of fuel. Our 3,000 patrols are reporting that the roads are quieter and that drivers are conserving precious fuel by sticking to the speed limits."

BMW Group products are officially the cleanest premium cars following independent, industry-wide research into CO2 emissions. The data, compiled by www.cleangreencars.co.uk, also shows that, through its EfficientDynamics programme, the BMW brand has the most improved average CO2 emissions of any premium manufacturer.

A report into average total model range emissions for car manufacturers found that from the period January 2008 to June 2008, BMW recorded an average of 161.64g/km. By comparison the model range averages for Audi and Mercedes were 177.36g/km and 192.85g/km respectively. Even Lexus with its hybrid-based model line-up only managed an average of 194.85g/km, while Jaguar topped 200g/km and Porsche recorded 275.64g/km.