The global warming crisis in conjunction with environmental concerns, high pump prices and fears over oil supplies has seen the resurgence of magic pills, gadgets and additives promising better gas mileage and less emissions.

I see these products being touted quite often in green industry forums and I occasionally have companies and agents trying to get me involved in actively marketing them.

The reason I don't is that I find the whole notion of these products rather questionable. With billions of dollars poured into fuel technology and the pressure on oil companies and auto makers to clean up their environmental act, I find it difficult to believe that outsiders have formulated miracle fuel savers. A chemical analysis of any such product by the big oil companies would very quickly allow them to create a similar additive for their own fuels - and charge accordingly.

A blurb about such a miracle product I received (again) the other day stated:

"Increase MPG 7% to 14% on gasoline and diesel. Laboratory tested, EPA registered, scientific process. Up to 75% reduction in emissions"

EPA registration means nothing except that a product won't create any worse emissions that what your car is already spewing out. It is not an endorsement of its claimed capabilities. As for the independent laboratory testing, I couldn't locate the lab mentioned in the reports. 

The little further research I did found the company in question is currently under investigation by the Attorney General of Florida. Investigation doesn't equate to guilt by any means, but it sows seeds of doubt, especially as you dig around a little more  and read some of the debates and investigative stories published online.

There's plenty of these fuel-saver products around - sometimes they are nothing more than an octane booster; at worse some products can damage your car and actually increase emissions.

The FTC has stated that even for the few gas-saving products that have been found to work, the savings have been very small. Small is better than none though, right? Not if the cost and environmental impact of production of the additive offsets any savings.

The Environmental Protection Agency has run tests on over a hundred so called gas saving gadgets and additives and has found none that work as advertised. It makes me very sad to see unscrupulous operators taking advantage of people who want (and need) to save cash and do something towards minimizing their environmental impact at the same time.

If someone's trying to peddle gas pills and miraculous gas saving gadgets to you, exercise due diligence - run a search on Google for

productname scam

or

companyname scam

.. and see what comes up. Read the information both for and against in order to make a more educated decision about whether or not to purchase. You'll also need to consider if any modification or additive may void your car warranty.

For some real gas saving strategies that help minimize environmental impact, check out my gas saving tips - it's mostly common-sense stuff.

Read more from the FTC about gas saving pills, additives and gadgets.