Fuel

The underlying principle of rocketry is a simple equation from high-school physics classes: Force equals mass times acceleration. That is, to lift that 70-ton (mass) vehicle high enough to put your satellite into orbit, you've got to keep it going faster and faster (acceleration) all the way up by burning fuel in an engine (force). And you don't want it to blow up.

A crippled pipeline that has created gasoline shortages and fueled frustrations for days is on schedule to resume bringing fuel to Phoenix today, officials said. Officials at Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, the company that owns the pipeline, said a test on a bypassed portion of the pipeline was successful Saturday. Kinder Morgan spokesman Larry Pierce declined to specify when the pipeline would begin operating, but Gov.

Fuel-efficiency standards for popular sport utility vehicles and light trucks would be gradually increased to match those currently required in passenger cars under legislation to be introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in the Senate today. The bill would boost the current average fuel economy standards required in SUVs and other light trucks from 20.7 mpg to 27.5 mpg by 2012.

Beaver dams helped contain 100,000 gallons of fuel that spilled from Alaska Railroad tank cars in a derailment south of Fairbanks, the state Environmental Conservation Department said Tuesday. Two beaver ponds along the tracks contained much of the spilled fuel, a department spokesman said. Nineteen cars in the 68-car southbound train derailed Monday. No one was injured.

Russia signed an agreement to ship fuel by March to a controversial atomic power plant it is building in Iran. Russian news agencies reported that Sergei Shmatko, head of the state-run company Atomstroyexport, and Mohammed Jonatyan, vice president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, signed a protocol for starting the Bushehr plant. Western nations fear Tehran could divert nuclear fuel and enrich it further for weapons. Iran has agreed to ship spent fuel back to Russia.

US Airways' top executive said fuel costs per passenger had doubled since 2007 and that the carrier would pay nearly $2 billion more for fuel in 2008. Doug Parker said the Tempe, Ariz.-based airline would try to recoup some of those costs with its recently announced fees for a second bag, choice seating and other service charges. He said the average per-passenger fuel cost in the airline's mainline operations had gone from $151 last year to $299 in 2008.

Airfares have risen nearly 6% this holiday season as carriers take advantage of strong demand to offset higher fuel costs. The average airfare booked between Dec. 19 and Jan. 1 was $362, up 5.8% from last year and 13.8% from the same period in 2005, said Chris Spidle, director of research at Sabre Airline Solutions. On Friday, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines added $10 round-trip fuel surcharges to ticket prices. Jet fuel prices are up 47% this year.

General Motors Corp. is trying to enlist the Chinese government in promoting cars that run on hydrogen fuel cells instead of gasoline, in hopes that the nation's potentially huge market might generate enough sales to make the new technology profitable. GM officials in Beijing said China could jump straight into alternative-fuel cars if it begins setting up special hydrogen filling stations now -- perhaps alongside new gas stations as they are built.

American Motors Corp. announced Friday that it is recalling about 20,000 Jeep vehicles built between Jan. 15 and March 3 for a possible fuel injection system problem that may prevent a return to idle after acceleration. Models involved include Cherokee, Wagoneer and Comanche vehicles with 4.0-liter, six-cylinder engines.

The Army, which must haul its fuel with it when it takes the field, has hired an Irvine-based fuel systems developer to build a prototype special operations vehicle that would run quietly on a hydrogen-powered fuel cell. The contract calls for Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. to develop an all-terrain vehicle over the next 10 months. A six-month field test would follow. The size of the contract was not revealed.