Thinking about buying a new car? Perhaps your SUV gets 12 miles to the gallon? Or your 1985 Chevy won’t pass the emissions test? Consider this tidbit from Wired:
“Pound for pound, making a Prius contributes more carbon to the atmosphere than making a Hummer, largely due to the environmental cost of the 30 pounds of nickel in the hybrid’s battery.”
Once you pull up to the gas pump, on the other hand, it’s a whole other story.
There is a very intriguing article in this week’s issue of Time magazine. The article by Michael Grunwald has a tagline of “Politicians and Big Business are pushing biofuels like corn-based ethanol as alternatives to oil. All they’re really doing is driving up food prices and making global warming worse – and you’re paying for it. Mr. Grunwald makes the argument that while ethanol is being hyped as the eco-friendly answer to our energy problems it really is increasing global warming, destroying forests and pushing food prices up.
Give it a read at Time and let us know what you think.
If you compared auto insurance rates, you might think green drivers are safer drivers! The reality is, all* insurance companies offer some form of discount to green drivers, although the discounts are not always labeled as green. It takes just a little research and preparation to ask the right questions when talking to your insurance provider.
I found three green chances to drive my auto insurance costs down.
Properly maintaining your car can make a big difference, not just to your pocketbook but also to the air we breathe. And I now have the experience to prove it.
First, some stats. According to the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory, a car throws out 2.84 ounces of pollutants per mile. Call it 3 ounces per mile, then drive 20 miles, and you’ve thrown 3 3/4 pounds of pollutants in the air. If you live in a good size city, estimate that there are at least 100,000 cars doing that every day. Pretty soon, it looks like we are grinding up a stadium and dispersing it every day.
No oil change for today’s cars can truly be green, as there is always some waste generated. However, you can minimize the impact by taking a few steps (recycling oil, capturing waste, etc.). Just like everyone else, business that provide car maintenance services are feeling the pressure to reduce their impact on the environment.
When your car is up for regular service, take a look at AAMCO Eco-Green Certified centers. I have not tried them myself, but they have some pretty impressive claims. For example: “you’ll extend the time between oil changes up to 5 TIMES versus traditional tune-ups.” It would definitely be worth while to compare the cost of this service to regular service, especially with the potential time savings from fewer oil changes.
Unfortunately, there are no Eco-Green certified centers near me. If you try an AAMCO green service, post a comment here and let us know how it goes, what they charge, etc.
There is a new hot rod in town and it’s green! While the majority of US cars come from Detroit this one is based out of the Silicon Valley. The Tesla is a different approach to the electric car, instead of a drab economy car it is a full fledge sports car. Initial testing has shown a 0–60 mph time of less than 4 seconds and it tops out at 125 mph. All this from a car that’s battery pack contains the equivalent of just 2.1 gallons of gasoline. Tesla says the Roadster’s efficiency is six times that of rival sports cars, and it contributes ten-fold fewer CO2 emissions. Since cars contribute 20 percent of the greenhouse gases that heat the planet, so this is a big deal.
Even with this performance the Tesla has a range of well over 200 miles and takes about 3.5 hours to charge the battery with a special garage charger or seven hours with a conventional plug.
Tesla has set a base price of $98,000 for the 600 customers who have put down deposits. Series production of the Tesla Roadster is scheduled to begin March 17th, 2008.
