Fuel saving is an increasingly important topic. The price of oil is historically high and seems set to increase. Petrol (gas) and diesel bills take up an ever-increasing proportion of people's budgets.

Equally, while there is still some debate about the details, the evidence for man-made climate change effects (global warming) becomes stronger every year. And even if global warming is not a reality, it is absolutely certain that there is only a finite amount of oil in the world - the more we use, the sooner prices will soar as the easily-extracted reserves are used up.

So whether it is for environmental reasons, or just perfectly reasonable self-interest, most people want to cut down on their use of oil-based fuel - be it petrol (gasoline) or diesel. As a professional automotive engineer, I have put these pages together to give some advice on how to save fuel.

Hints and tips for economical driving - reduce your fuel bills without any expenditure

Choosing a more economical vehicle - the only way to make a large saving

Future fuel-saving technologies (hybrid, fuel cells, etc)

Econogics, a Canadian energy efficiency consultancy, has some good tips on this page (although I don't agree entirely with the anti-SUV, anti-oil company message).

If you live in the UK and are desperate to save money on your fuel, you could try Petrol Direct - though check your sense of humour first...