There are a growing number of green, affordable cars on the market to choose from, and the savings in carbon emissions can be significant. Or, until you are in a position to upgrade your model, sharing your car with others, or joining a car-sharing scheme, is a quick and easy way of reducing the number of cars on the road, and corresponding CO2 emissions.
CO2 saved by buying an electric or hybrid car
Toyota Prius emits 104 grams
of CO2 per km so 13,438km
x 104grams = 1397.552 kg
So 2246kg
-1397.552 = 848.45 kg SAVED
Electric cars reduce CO2 by 90% when compared to the cleanest petrol powered vehicles (even when factoring in the emissions from power plants generating the electricity to charge the vehicle)
.
So 10% of 2246kg = 224.6kg
2246 - 224.6 = 2021.4kg SAVED
AVERAGE CO2 SAVED IF YOU BUY AN ELECTRIC OR HYBRID CAR = (2021.4+848.45)/2 = 1434.93 kg saved
For information on electric and hybrid cars see:
Top 100 cars by Green Rating
American site (so prices listed in dollars) but it clearly lists the mpg and emissions rating next to each car (there are pictures too) and is quick and easy to find particular car models. Each car then gets a 'green rating' and you can link further into the site to explore info about each car and its pros/cons; this also includes site and user reviews for each car. There is an in-depth Community section that covers some hot topics such as High Efficiency Vehicles, Toyota-Prius and Biodiesel Basics.
Green Car Guide
Very user-friendly, bright and simple site brimming with details on all-things-green-car. How to choose, compare, use, save money running cars, fuel types, hybrid systems, new technology the list goes on... Top 10 Green cars is worth looking at, and for the car enthusiast, features about Motorsport leading the way for the green car revolution.... The site is run by Paul Clarke one of the UK's leading communication consultants in the field of environmental issues, sustainability, climate change and renewable energy. Paul is also (wahey!) a car geek.
Big Green Switch
A user-friendly site with simple easy suggestions and options to find out more about the reasoning behind 'making the switch' suggestion. For example; how to achieve 0 miles to the gallon, thinking twice about in-car ventilation, traveling off-peak. It also counts the switches that people are committing to make so you can see the benefits mounting. I'm sure this will come up in other GT wiki research but the site also covers other sectors of green...
Future Vehicles
Want to see what an electric car goes like before you buy it, then hire one for £175 per week including insurance. Pick up is in SW London and they aim to roll out across the UK in 2008. They also offer a service to convert the classic mini into an electric car.
Green Car Site
Very detailed site covering an extensive range of green cars with discussion about fuel saving, cost, safety, space, quality and where to find the lowest prices.
THE ELECTRIC CARS:
CO2 saved by car pooling
The average commute is 19 miles
. So if a person is sharing a car with another car driver they will save 6.365 kg of CO2 (if a car emits 0.335 per mile
- 19x0.335=6.365), as effectively they have allowed a car to be taken off the roads.
By shifting to car-pooling, or deciding to share your car regularly with 2 or 3 othes, we believe that the savings accumulated by fewer cars on the road will be of a similar magnitude as the carbon saved by buying a greener car.
Of course the more preferable option would be to buy a greener car and share it.
Car pools are springing up all over the UK. Here is a selection for starters:
Lift-share: Good site that has 182,180 members and over a million journeys registered.
You need to register, add your journey then wait for the emails/calls.
You can use facebook for carpooling.
www.evite.com: When someone replies to an invite sent from www.evite.com, they can tick an option that says "I'm interested in carpooling". Here's how it works: http://www.evite.com/pages/carpool/how.jsp
CarBUDI: Part of the liftshare solutions scheme you can register for free and Liftshare also runs WalkBUDI, BikeBUDI and TaxiBUDI
www.car-pool.co.uk
www.carshare.com gives a selection of car pooling clubs nationwide.
National CarShare
Footnotes
