Sometimes the pressure to act conscientiously can be a little wearing for consumers. After all, our modern lifestyle seems fraught with pitfalls - from transportation to household electronics, food and water to the containers that hold them. Every day brings another cautionary tale or admonishment. Even the best-intentioned people want to plug their ears occasionally. If only all these changes could be made painlessly. For instance, wouldn’t it be great if your car conserved gas on its own?

Certainly, fuel-efficient vehicles are more common - as are hybrids, electric, and other alternatively powered versions. But there may be some help, even for dinosaur-like fossil-fuel slurpers. Nissan Motor Company has announced a new car part that may reduce gas consumption. It comes in the form of a modified accelerator called the ECO pedal.

The pedal could increase efficiency by 5-10%. Perhaps it doesn’t sound like much on an individual basis, but the effects add up - over time and across a broader population. How is this efficiency achieved? Well, the pedal is linked to a system that monitors fuel consumption. When the gas efficiency drops below a certain threshold, the pedal resistance increases - effectively pushing back when pressed.

Natural Resources Canada has a website reinforcing the importance of driving habits for fuel consumption and emissions. And it is not only about the the use of fossil fuels. For every litre of gas burned in a car engine, about 2.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide are emitted. Reducing idling time, proper engine and tire maintenance, gradual acceleration and braking, and decreased cruising speed all improve fuel efficiency. Save air-conditioning for the most unbearably hot days. In cold weather, plug in an engine block heater rather than letting the car “warm up” in the driveway. As fuel efficiency increases, CO2 emissions decrease.

In general, rapid acceleration is less fuel-efficient. When a driver exhibits lead-footed tendencies, the drop in transmission and fuel efficiency would trigger the ECO pedal mechanism. Effectively, further acceleration would be difficult. Both acceleration and cruising would have optimal conditions for foot pressure, as calculated by the system.

The company plans to develop the pedal commercially in 2009. Once installed, drivers would have the option of turning the system off if necessary. Nissan has also decided to place fuel consumption indicators in all new cars. Even without the addition of the ECO pedal, this system uses coloured lights to monitor the fuel efficiency of different driving habits.