Peter, this all sounds very interesting to me however I am going to require some translation on this: "I spent $2,500 on LPG conversion on my 12 year old Tarago, 11 years ago when LPG was cheap per litre,"

Sorry I don't knwo what LPG or a Tarago are! I presume the latter is a car.

The only reason I can determine that there is little more being done to develop alternative fuel vehicles is that the Oil Empire is against it. Like it or not, there are special interest groups pulling weight on government officials in this country (and I can only imagine elsewhere) and of course Oil has more money lining its pockets than Hydrogen does! It's come to this, the crucial point of oil prices, availability, wars, politics and public interest to get the ball rolling here. And even AT THAT the American car makers have dropped the ball! Oh, the irony! In the 1970's during the gas crisis here the American car makers were still pumping out big, boxey V8 cars from Detroit. Well, low and behold the Japanese came in with their Hondas and blew the American companys away, the American public ate it up and to this day the Americans are still trying to play catch-up to the level of quality and technology that the Japanese have spanked us with for 30 years now. Again! Honda and Toyota BOTH came out with hybrid gas/electric cars around the year 2000 or so. Spanked us again! American companies wer caught with their pants down, began scambling to catch up and only this year are we seeing the first American cars (and trucks!) being released with hybrid motors. It's embarrasing!

So I think the technology has been there for quite sometime. It's obvioulsy simply a matter of desire. The politicians had no desire to anger the oil companies by throwing money in alternative fuels, but now that the Japanese have spanked us and consumer demand for this technology is up - in other words, now that there's MONEY to be made - the American car companies are taking action. "We haven't had the technology until now." I don't buy that for one second. It's about desire.

I don't know if Ausland is subject to the same buerocracy as we are here god bless you if you are!

Rick