Acura diesel technology

It's a small but significant development: Honda's Acura offshoot will put its first diesel engine on sale in 2009.

It will be called the i-DTEC, but there's no news on its size or what model it will go in.

Why's Acura doing this? Because although America's love of the big car remains, car buyers and car makers have woken up to the fact that they can't keep burning fuel without a second thought.

Rising oil costs and the growing green bandwagon are hitting hard, and the emergence of diesel engines in the American market is one response.