The traditional internal combustion engine is only about 25%-30% efficient at the flywheel. After going through the rest of the drivetrain and reaching the wheels, you are looking at another 10% loss. While much of this cannot be helped, one company based in Sweden thinks that removing the camshaft may help free up some of that wasted energy.
Cargine Engineering specializes in automotive technology that is redesigned to reduce emissions and increase fuel economy. As most know, the easiest way to prolong the lifetime of your fuel is to lighten the load on your engine. By decreasing the amount of lost energy, you are freeing up more power at lower engine speeds and allowing said engine to accomplish the same amount of work while burning less fuel.
Cargine's new design uses a pneumatic valve actuation system to regulate the opening and closing of your engines valvetrain. Pressures range from 44-232PSI, depending on such things as lift and duration and the average power consumption is noticeably less than that of a traditional DOHC Inline-4 engine. It also reduces the amount of space needed by half and weights about 30% less than the standard configuration.
Of course, this isn't to say that using a Pneumatic Valve Actuation System will save you thousands of dollars every year. In reality the overall gains will be small, but in a world where every mile per gallon counts, we will take what we can get.