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Home My WebLink AboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-10-28, Page 44Page 14 Gas stations of the future a supermarket of fuels The gasoline station of the future may be a super- market of fuels. In addition to the usual gasoline blends and diesel fuel, a motorist may be able to choose something more exotic — such as alcohols or propane. Moving even fur- ther into the future, fuels such as compressed natural gas or hydrogen may join the list. The Ontario government has just begun a $75 million five-year program to stimulate the development and use of these new transportation fuels as alter- natives to gasoline. While many of the substitutes are indeed fuels of the future, others are already in use on Ontario roads. Take propane, for exam- ple. It has been used as a motor fuel for more than 40 years. Yet until recently in Canada, where there is a stable supply of the fuel — a. byproduct of oil refining and natural gas processing -- propane propane has been used most- ly in off-road vehicles such as fork-lift trucks, in fac- tories. It became popular for on - Propane costs the con- sumer less than gasoline and it is cleaner because it burns as a dry gas; leading to maintenance savings through cleaner engines, fewer oil changes and longer spark plug life. Owners considering pro- pane as a fuel for their vehicles are eligible for a variety of provincial tax in- centives including exemp- tion from the seven percent provincial sales tax for the vehicles themselves and the 20 percent ad valorem road use tax for the fuel. The federal goveznrnent also of- fers a taxable grant of up to $480 toward the costs of a commercial vehicle conver- sion to propane. Propane is a safe, efficient fuel. Owners of fleets rang- ing from taxicabs to delivery trucks are generally pleased with the performance and economy of their propane - powered vehicles. The, are even police cars in Ontario which use propane as a fuel yet perform as well as stan- dard gasoline -powered vehicles. vehicles will be on the road by 1985. To help meet this target, the Ministry, together with the Ministry of Transportation and Com- munications is conducting DRIVE: PROPANE — a demonstration which com- pares ,propane -powered vehicles with those using conventional fuels. The Ontario government is also using more propane- poweredvehicles in its own fleet, as well as reviewing the safety and performance of propane vehicles and training mechanics to ser- vice them. Energy Minister Robert Welch points out that pro- pane is just one of several fuels which will help Ontario and Canada reduce their dependence on gasoline. Transportation fuels \ are vital to this challenge because half of the crude oil consumed in Ontario is used for transportation — and most of this is used in automobiles. For more information, write to Energyscope, care The Ontario Ministry of of the Mlanistry of Energy, fleet vehicles only Energy anticipates that GMS Box 37, Queen's Park, road priceseetto1e gasolinenlywhenen 40,000 propane -powered Toronto M7A 2137. thediesel�fuelbegan.tosoar. • Learn from truckers Now, 3,000 propane - powered vehicles are travelling on Ontario highways. Most belong to fleets because propane distribution centres are still rather scarce when corn - There are many things clean, or is vision ob- the 'average automobile scured? This is especially driver could learn from important on cool frosty a truck driver. mornings when the The Canada Safety vehicle has been outside Council is suggesting overnight. Peep -hole pared with retail gasoline drivers adopt the truck drivers are poor drivers. stations. There is also a need drivers "CIRCLE- Do . all lights work? for careful quality control CHECK plan. Including turn signals? over conversions and It means, before Little things, perhaps. maintenance. starting a trip, the driver But it is often the little It is still not certain should circle the vehicle. , things that make the whether propane will ever be Is a tire going soft, for difference between a safe widely used by motorists as instance? trip and a costly or tragic opposed to fleet operators. Is the back window accident. Well, right now you're looking at $212.80 Do you want me to call the boys off and risk certain disaster, or may they resume tinkering" Heat pumps reduce bilis A heat pump greatly reduces high heating bills. This electrically operated deviceextracts heat from outside air in the winter and brings it inside; extracts. heat from inside air in the summer and pumps it out- side. The concept is really quite simple. Refrigerators work on a similar principle to extract warm air from the cooling compartment. That's iyvhy the coils on the back of your refrigerator are warm. A heat pump circulates a coolant, such as Freon, which is a liquid under high pressure, and a vapor under low pressure. The coolant absorbs heat when it vaporizes. Pressure is ap- plied and the heat is released — outside the house in sum- mer, inside in winter. In winter, the warm air is circulated by fans. But you are probably wondering how a pump can drag heat out of the frosty air. The fact is, there's always some heat in the air unless it is absolute zero or -273 degrees C (-459 degrees V). Normal-sized heat pumps for homes work best down to temperatures of -10 degrees C (-14 degrees F'). Below that they cannot extract enough warmth to heat a home effi- ciently'. That's why a homeowner needs a backup system such as a conven- tional furnace in addition to the heat pump. Even so, a heat pump used in conjunction with a sup- plementary heating system can save up to 40 percent of heating costs in some cases. Homes heated by hot water cannot use conventional heat pumps. OK, ,so what's the drawback, why doesn't every home have a heat pump perched outside? Well, they are expensive $2,000 to $4,000 installed. That's why Premier Davis has asked Ontario Hydro to start a program to make heat pumps more readily available to the average homeowner in the province. In addition, the Premier wants Ontario to lead the way in the development of this energy-saving technology,. So a homeowner with an, aging heating system which must be replaced and who is also considering installing air conditioning should look seriously at installing a heat pump. Although the heat pump - will cost more now, it will be farless expensive to operate over the years than either electrical forced -air -,central air conditioning or natural gasand air conditioning. For further information, write to Energyscope, care 6 of the Ministry of Energy,., GMS Box 37, Queen's Park, Toronto M7A 2137, YOU'RE IN THE MONEY WITH AYORK NEAT PUMP. Savings up to 50% and more on your heating bills Nobody hag to fell you that the cost of home heating is going up Up and out of sight. What to do? Call your York Certified Heal Pump Contractor, By adding a York MaxlMtaer Heal Pump to your forced air oil or electric healing system, you Can reduce your annual heating bills up to 50% and more' Or better still, convert complelely le the all -electric York Champion Heat Pump for even greater savings, 11 you currently•heat with natural gag, your savings won't be quite as impressive, but you can expect savings o1 about 25°%o to 30%' These savings are comforting and so is the fact that come summer. your York Heat Pump reverses to provide your home with comfort- able central air conditioning 2$800.00 grant with the government's `off oirprrgram Hight now. the Federal Government has In place a special incentive program to ease Canada's dependence 00 costly and fre- quently unstable foreign oil sources • They call if COSP short for Canadian Oil Substitution Program. Add a York Max,Mi2er Heat Pump to your oil furnace or replace it with a York Champion Heat Pump and you'll receive an $800 government grant C� Low interest t/ financing for some rural customers Here's something else that s comforting Many rural heat pump purchasers Wilbshortly be able to hnande their York Heat Pump at low interest rates through Ontario Hydro and their municipal electric utility With a minimum $200 00 down payment you may he able to borrow lip to $2 000 00 and pay your low interest loan off or, your municipal hydro bill (Nol available m all muniCipalit'es I YORK. Heating ,and Air Conditioning HAROLD WISE LTD. BAYFIELD ROAD, CLINTON 482-7062 "Huron County's Authorized Saes & Service Dealer for York Heat Pumps" AYork's Protection Plus Service Plan For very little ex lra r.r st you can also have the Yori, ofectron Plus Service Plan that protects you. agair,S! ,inew Peeled repair bills for 5 luli peace.of mind.quaranteed Get in the money witn a York Heat Pump Talk tl. vow nearby York Certified Heat Pump Contractor listed below, Outside the Metro- 001,15n etro001,1an TyE ntr area :or Suit you' Yellow Pages a^ Hea( Pumps Fvnryn+,r(i ,,, 5hnuirl know about the heat purr,' espi.a•^er1 George Da,gle,Sn s F rat' f (i, ,. r,i. NFAT,•PUM!S A PRACTICAL GUIDE ' 'P^'^e nya.yt,CKly a" i^ ("sta"ll C. )mpioIe years Thaf s lt)' Irne ()( y Yes I'd like to receive a free i copy of George Dalgleish s HEAT PUMPS at no obligo tion Norne Address City. Town Province Postal Code Mail to HAROLD WISE LTD, P.O. NCO 321 CLINTON, ONTARIO NOM 110