Prices at the pump are so high due to the increasing cost of oil. There was a period in time where the West was the predominate place on the planet where a large part of the population people had vehicles. Today that has changed. Developing and advancing countries are seeing more of their citizens purchase cars. This means that there is a greater need for oil and gasoline in other countries. This drives up the price of oil. Oil is a finite resource and this fact also makes it much more expensive.

To fight rising oil costs, our country must make some changes. Finding an affordable alternative fuel and then setting up the infrastructure to support it, is one way that this problem can be addressed in this country. The continued manufacturing of small, fuel efficient cars is another option. One alternative that has not gotten much press is the use of carbon fiber.

Carbon fiber is a material that can be used to build cars. It is extremely strong. In fact, it is 5 times stronger then steel and 2/3 lighter. Lighter cars mean the need for less fuel. Manufacturing a car from carbon fiber would reduce that vehicle’s weight by 60%. As this relates to oil, cars would require 30% less fuel. This would automatically reduce an individual’s budget for gas by 30% without making any changes. Imagine if car companies would begin using this material to make cars and then uncovered an affordable, alternative fuel source. The gas crisis would be over!

High fuel prices are not only affecting individuals at the pump. It also takes oil to fuel electricity and keep homes warm and cool. Many Americans have seen an increase in their electric bills.

However, the increasing costs to keep cars running has risen to extreme levels and is expected to continue to rise. As a result, driving habits in America will have to change if nothing else does. Car manufacturers can help alleviate the problem by developing lighter, stronger cars that go further on less fuel. One way to do this is through the use of carbon fiber to make cars. The material is extremely strong, durable and light, which would reduce the fuel consumption of the automobile by 30% without taking anything else into consideration. This would be helping Americans financially and our planet as well, because of the lower amount of emissions released into the atmosphere. By manufacturing cars from carbon fiber, greenhouse emissions would be reduced by 10%-20%.

The author runs nationaltransportllc.com.

Carbon fibers in helmets are made by superheating an acrylic fiber that results to better strength and stiffness to weight properties. Carbon fiber composites can achieve the strength of metals at a significant savings in weight, the two factors needed in making quality motorcycle helmets.

Kevlar is created by dissolving a polymer in a solvent and then extracting the fibers and then spinned to form threads. Although Kevlar has properties that are similar to carbon fiber, it lacks compressive strength. By combining carbon fiber and Kevlar, one can get a laminate that has three times the flexural strength than that of Kevlar alone.

Carbon fiber motorcycle helmets provide a lighter yet more durable helmet than most motorcycle helmets today made from fiberglass. With carbon fiber motorcycle helmets, it is now possible to make more compact motorcycle helmets that are lighter and less bulky.

Most carbon fiber helmets are available for you from custom helmet manufacturers. But there are other manufacturers now beginning to make motorcycle helmets out of this extremely useful material. With it, motorcycle helmets become lighter, stronger and cooler.

There are now carbon fiber motorcycle helmets such as the THH T-69 that offers you a DOT approved motorcycle helmet. Its smaller shell design helps in making it ever the popular choice with most riders today. There is also the HJC AC-12 full face carbon fiber helmet that incorporates racer tested features for use by the ordinary motorcycle rider on the road.

It has features such as the Flow Through ACS Advanced Channeling Ventilation Feature System that provides extraordinary ventilation to make you feel cooler. It also makes use of an Anti-fog System to provide you with a clear view even in the coldest of days. This motorcycle helmet also has a built-in communication system speaker cavity to allow two-way or multi-channel communication when required.

With today’s technology, motorcycle helmets have evolved to provide you with better protection and a more comfortable riding experience. With all the choices now available for you, you would surely have that helmet that would work for you.

This content is provided by Low Jeremy. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included. For more information on Motorcycle Helmets & other useful information, please visit http://motorcycle-helmet.articlekeep.com .

However, there is a caution in order with respect to the issue of the relationship of carbon fiber helmets to head protection. In motorcycle helmets, including carbon fiber helmets, the heart of the protection system is the liner—usually made of Styrofoam or a Styrofoam-like material—not the shell. This is so because the shell material absorbs the impact energy that arises from a motorcycle accident and thereby prevents that energy from doing destructive damage to the head. It is the energy absorption, not energy resistance, that protects the head from trauma. Put another way, if one were to wear a motorcycle helmet carved out of a solid block of steel, that helmet would be less effective in protecting against head injury than would a helmet made entirely out of Styrofoam. This is counter-intuitive, but, nonetheless true. Safety, if not the only reason for purchasing a motorcycle helmet, is by the far the most important reason for such a purchase and carbon fiber helmets do not increase safety to any great degree. They make the helmet itself less prone to the effects of wear and tear, but it is the liner inside the carbon fiber helmet’s shell that is the most effective safety component of the system.

Nor is the technology used to make carbon fiber helmets particularly advanced. The carbon fibers that go into the shells are made by subjecting certain acrylics to great heat. When combined with other materials, these fibers produce materials that are extraordinarily tough, but, once again, it should be mentioned that because the surfaces of carbon fiber helmets are extraordinarily strong, this does not mean that they better protect the head than do more traditional materials, such as fiberglass, that are used in the making of motorcycle helmet shells.

It is to be noted that some carbon fiber helmets are not, legally speaking, “motorcycle helmets” at all, but rather, they are “novelty helmets” or “beanies,” helmets which do not meet the standards for U.S. Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) certification. This points to the fact that purchasers of carbon fiber helmets should always look for the D.O.T. sticker that is placed on the back of the shell of helmets that do meet D.O.T. standards. There is certainly nothing wrong with carbon fiber helmets per se and their light weight and fashionable looks make them desirable. But carbon fiber helmets do not guarantee better safety. Carbon fiber helmets constitute the use of a technology that is ancillary, not central, to the issue of safety and the smart consumer will purchase carbon fiber helmets if, and only if, they are D.O.T. and/or Snell certified for safety.

Author John Daniele is an expert on motorcycle helmets. For information or to purchase a handcrafted, light-weight, fiberglass novelty carbon fiber helmets see www.helmetsrus.com

Carbon fiber is exactly what the name suggests, extremely thin strong fibers and is most notably used to reinforce composite materials, particularly the class of materials known as carbon fiber or graphite reinforced polymers. It’s also known alternatively as the reinforced plastic or carbon fiber composite. As a compound it’s known for being far stronger and lighter than fiberglass. It’s kind of is an engineer’s dream come true. A material that’s lighter than aluminum and is pound for pound stronger than steel.

It’s also known as an expensive compound, but has a fantastic weight-to-strength ratio and is a form of graphite in which the sheets are long and thin. Carbon fiber is actually made from another polymer, called polyacrylonitrile, by a complicated heating process. It is widely used because it has a number of characteristics that make it ideal for the construction of a things and items required to be light in weight but extremely sturdy. Things like surfboards and even aircraft. Among it’s many other uses, it’s a compound that is often used in aerospace and automotive fields, as well as in sailboats and modern bicycles, where the material’s strength-to-weight ratio is beneficial.

Some other characteristics that make it favorable is it’s extremely low flex fatigue over time, it’s non flammable and is stable in the environment.

Recently it’s become the composite material most often found in race cars, although like all advanced technology it’s quickly finding it’s way into more and more vehicles. Because it’s so easy to produce in large quantities manufacturers weave it into sheets, bars, tubes, and other shapes. Often in several overlapping layers to increase their strength.

The atomic structure of carbon fiber is similar to that of graphite, consisting of sheets of carbon atoms (grapheme sheets) arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern. It’s high cost is somewhat mitigated by the material’s unsurpassed strength-to-weight ratio. One major advantage is that though it’s one-fifth the weight of steel it’s just as strong and stiff, which makes it ideal for structural or semi-structural components in automobiles. But since it is lighter and stronger, wind power turbine makers are using it to make turbine blades longer, stronger and more efficient.

Carbon fiber is now in great demand worldwide to make to make composite components for a new generation of fuel-saving commercial aircraft and is developing as a sort of earth conscious material.

http://www.carbon-fiber-hood.net Carbon fiber information and carbon fiber hoods , trunks and hatches.