I'm sure you've heard of a little thing called the recession. Well, in light of recent economic upheavals, I think that many of us are concerned with saving a couple of rand wherever we can. One way of doing this is to drive more efficiently. Most of you probably have a commute to work. By learning to drive effectively you can save fuel which in turn saves energy and is good for the environment and your wallet.

So what is energy efficient driving? It is driving in a manner that increases your use of the fuel you put in your car. Your average car only uses about 15% of the fuel you put into it to actually keep it moving. The rest of the energy is lost making the gears work and pushing the waste emissions out of the exhaust. Some of the fuel is also lost through evaporation. This is also partly due to the fact that the average car engine is only 30% efficient . When it comes to converting your petrol into the kinetic energy used to move your vehicle, cars are extremely inefficient.

Yet by keeping your car engine well maintained and driving with some finesse, you can increase your fuel efficiency.

One of the best ways to do this, is to drive smoothly and at a constant speed. Breaking and accelerating use a lot of fuel, imagine how much energy it takes to push your car when you cannot start it, that is the amount your engine needs to produce when you accelerate. Whilst driving in town, 50% of the energy your car uses is needed to accelerate. So, by changing gears earlier and anticipating traffic movements, you can reduce the amount of fuel used when accelerating and breaking. For example, if you are coming up to a red traffic light or are travelling down hill, take your foot off the accelerator and use the car's momentum in conjunction with the clutch to take you the rest of the way. Bullish and aggressive stop/start driving in rush hour traffic also uses a lot of fuel, so drive intuitively and try and avoid rush hour traffic - if you can.

Your car has a speed where its fuel consumption is at its most efficient. So when driving on the highway, try to maintain your speed, as going faster increases fuel consumption. That said, driving at slower speeds also increases fuel consumption, so drive at a steady rate. Most cars are at their maximum fuel efficiency at around 110km/ph or about the speed limit on national highways in South Africa. If you want to work out your fuel efficiency, go check out how to do it on eartheasy

Another tip to increase efficiency when driving, is that you should try to change into the higher gears as soon as possible, as they help burn your fuel more efficiently. You should change gears if your rev counter is going above 2500rpm, as the higher your rev count, the more fuel you are consuming.

Plan your route and try and avoid heavy traffic that will slow you down and cause you to do a lot of stop-start driving.

Good maintenance of your engine will also ensure that your vehicle is burning fuel as efficiently as possible. Check that the filters are clean and make sure that your tyre pressure is correct as soft tyres create more drag. Take out unnecessary items and roof racks. This lightens the car and makes you more fuel efficient. You can also only fill your tank half way with fuel, as fuel is heavy and will create drag, therefore the less your fuel load, the lighter and more easily you will drive.

So if you are stuck with your vehicle and dreams of an electric car are a way off still, try a couple of the above tips. That way you can feel good about yourself – not only are you helping the environment, but you'll also have some extra cash to put into the bank. If you have the luxury of living close to work, and the sun is shining, why not walk or bike to walk instead? These are two of the most energy efficient ways we have of getting around.