Were paying $1 for a gallon of Fuel. The auto industry is exploring energy-saving ideas that they would have considered zany just a few years ago. Automotive history is ripe with tales of inventors with promising new engine technologies who were never able to bring their “ideas” to market.Ethanol Injection One of the most promising new ideas in energy efficiency comes from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The proposition: get more power and efficiency out of turbocharged motors by injecting ethanol, methanol or E85 (85% methanol, 15% Fuel) into the engine at times of higher demands for power. Shows a 30% increase at MIT. “With aggressive turbo charging, you get a heavy case of knocking if you try to use regular fuel.” The direct injection of ethanol into the combustion chamber has an evaporative cooling effect and eliminates the knocking. Ethanol Boosting Systems thinks it is possible to get as much as 330 horsepower and 360 foot-pounds of torque from a 1.9-liter engine using regular-grade Fuel as the primary fuel. Fuel Tech, Meet Diesel Daimler and General Motors are experimenting with motors that run on Fuel but combine features of traditional Fuel engines (fuel ignited by a spark) and diesel technology (fuel ignited by compression of fuel and air). Daimler calls its version the DiesOtto. Two-Stroke, Four-Stroke An even more radical long shot is an internal combustion engine that switches between two- and four-stroke operations. Most consumers associate two-stroke with chain saws, grass trimmers and smelly exhaust,.The Camless Engine Over the past two decades, automakers have adopted variable-valve technology, in which various mechanical systems vary the lift and duration of valves opening and closing for intake and exhaust in order to maximize power and efficiency and minimize exhaust emissions. This technology in one form or another is widespread in modern automobiles. The next big breakthrough could be the camless engine, a motor that does away with the conventional camshaft to operate the engine valves and replace them with electromechanical or hydraulic-powered values.The lure of the camless motor? A significant reduction in internal friction from powering a crankshaft and associated belts, gears, etc., as well as precise control of valve timing. The challenge is designing a camless system so that a possible failure of the valves is not catastrophic to the engine; other issues are reliability, noise and vibration