AutoblogGreen

Looking back on 2008, it seems that the biggest stories that shaped the automotive landscape had more to do with gas prices and economic conditions than the vehicles themselves. Regardless, there are quite a few new technologies that are just starting to make waves, and many of them are intended to reduce the world's use of petroleum and the resultant emissions. Proof positive can be seen in Motor Trend's list of the "Top Ten Tech Treasures" of 2008. For instance, the first two bits of technology praised by MT are the cellulosic ethanol processes being used by Coskata and Mascoma, while the third has to do with finding a suitable non-food crop for said ethanol. Ethanol not your style? Try methanol, which manages to hold down spots 4 and 5 in one form or another. There's five more entries on the list, and we don't want to spoil them for you, so we'll just mention that all but one have something to do with saving fuel or cutting emissions.

[Source: Motor Trend]