But, Dude, I Was, Like, Totally Saving the Environment

Reuters has up an article about Al Gore's Son, Al Gore III, being arrested for possession of marijuana and prescription drugs. Normally, I wouldn't post something about this since it's only "newsworthy" because it's the son of someone famous. The reason I'm posting it is because the article almost makes it sound like it's not that bad, since he was driving a hybrid car and his dad cares about the environment. Quite possibly one of the most "bring in my personal soapbox even though it's irrelevant to the article" pieces that I've read in some time.

New Engine to Transform Gasoline Cars?

Science Daily is claiming that a new part of the internal combustion engine called "variable valve actuation" could transform the industry.

In today's internal combustion engines, the pistons turn a crankshaft, which is linked to a camshaft that opens and closes the valves, directing the flow of air and exhaust into and out of the cylinders. The new method would eliminate the mechanism linking the crankshaft to the camshaft, providing an independent control system for the valves.
Because the valves' timing would no longer be restricted by the pistons' movement, they could be more finely tuned to allow more efficient combustion of diesel, gasoline and alternative fuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, Shaver said.

The technique could allegedly increase gas-burning efficiency by 15 to 20 percent, making gasoline-based cars as efficient as diesel. It also leads to more completely combusted fuels, meaning fewer greenhouse gases emitted.

Maybe the future is not in the electric car after all. At least not the ones envisioned recently. Maybe instead it is an ultra-efficient hybrid-gasoline engine.