Transport
Can you fly with a
clean conscience?
As we become more aware of the true cost of flying, more and more people are asking themselves this question, and wanting to know more about carbon offsetting.
Feature on Flying and Carbon Off-setting.
G-Wiz - Going green -
Read about the electric vehicle with no road tax
Electric bikes - Independent 14/6/06
Batteries included- the electric car that can outrun a Ferrari
Emission impossible
Car makers have failed dismally in their aim to reduce emissions.
-Read the full story-
When less means more
If we are to have a future we need to learn to travel less. Unlike housing, where emissions are being reduced by improved insulation, emissions from planes and cars are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases. Many now regards driving and flying as their right, which is all the more remarkable when you think that we have only been using these modes of transport for around 100 years, the blink of an eye in the world's history. Many normal, nice, apparently well-educated and informed people, have come to regard several foreign holidays a year as a good thing, something they have earned from their hard work. It seems almost rude to point out that their lifestyles are completely unsustainable.
The question to ask is, why do we want to travel so much? Our wanderlust suggests we are deeply unhappy where we are to start with. There would be much less desire to travel if we were surrounded by friends and family, by the services we need. We need to rebuild local communities, to keep families close to each other, and we will save money and the planet in the process. Services need to be available locally, and local produce on sale close to the point of production.
Reducing car and train journeys is an enormous challenge, and we need politicians and celebrities to lead by example. Fuel needs to be rationed by volume rather than by price to be fairer to the poor. Air travel needs to be phased out as completely unsustainable. But above all we need to learn to travel less. When we no longer feel the need to travel we will know we have achieved happier lives.
Guide to greener motoring
The Toyota Prius: a hybrid car
Feature on electric cars
Rising fuel prices have already persuaded some drivers to become more environmentally-friendly now that a litre of fuel costs over £1, with a third (11.5 million) of British motorists cutting back on road journeys over the last 12 months. Some use their cars only for essential journeys while others have increased their use of public transport.
There are many ways you can cut your motoring costs while trying to be greener:
Improve your driving
Driving smoothly helps, as acceleration and braking have a significant effect on fuel consumption. Avoid leaving the engine idling before setting off, and switch off in major traffic jams. Reducing your overall speed also cuts fuel use, especially for long motorway journeys. . Keep your tyres correctly inflated and remove roof racks when no longer needed. Use air-conditioning sparingly to further cut your fuel consumption. Try to cut out the car for short journeys
Car clubs
The organisation Carplus calculates that if you drive less than 6,000 miles in a year, joining a car club could save you between £1,000 and £1,500 a year. Car clubs are usually run by private companies or local councils and allow the short-term hire. The clubs free members up from car maintenance, insurance and tax costs, with the bonus that this "pay-as-you-go" approach reduces unnecessary journeys, and cuts pollution.There is a joining fee of up to £40, a deposit of around £100, hourly charges of up to around £4.50. The fuel charge per mile is around 20p. Once you are a member of a club, you book the time you need, enter a PIN to access the car and then drive off.
City Car Club (08453 301 234 www.citycarclub.co.uk) has cars stationed in reserved parking bays in locations nationwide including Bath, Bristol, Brighton, Litchfield, Huddersfield, Poole and Portsmouth, Edinburgh, and London..
At www.carplus.org.uk you can track down car clubs in your area or check out the guidance it offers on starting your own informal car club.
Share with a friend or make some news ones!
According to the organisation Liftshare, motorists can save up to £1,000 on transport costs every year by car or liftsharing,
Liftsharing can happen informally, where friends, family or neighbours take turns to give each other lifts, or more formally through the increasing number of council run schemes or through online services such as www.liftshare.co.uk, where users register regular or one-off journeys they are about to take and are put in contact with other travellers who are going their way.
Drivers are not permitted to make a profit from providing a lift, but a contribution from passengers can include an appropriate amount towards wear and tear. "Fares" must be decided in advance, and the driver is not permitted to act as a taxi, picking up strangers along the route.
Less polluting standard cars
Friends of the Earth (www.foe.co.uk) have calculated the cost of fuel needed to drive a car 12,000 miles a year and found that for drivers happy with a smaller car, choosing a Citroen C2 rather than a Ford Fiesta could result in a fuel cost saving of £460 a year.
The Vehicle Certification Agency guide (www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk) provides fuel economy and emissions performance of all new cars in the UK.
The guide indicates differences of 45 per cent in the fuel economy of different models using the same fuel within the same size range. If you choose the most fuel-efficient vehicles you could save £900 per year if you drive 20,000 miles a year.
The best-known ecofriendly car, the Toyota Prius, has emissions of 104g a kilometre, which puts it in the second-lowest VED band, with a duty of £40 with petrol-driven cars such as the Peugeot 107, the Toyota Aygo, the Smart city coupé, Daihatsu's Charade and Sirion and the Vauxhall Corsa.
Some small-engine diesel models also qualify for the £40 band. They include the Citroën C2 and C3, the Renault Clio, the Peugeot 206, the Fiat Panda, the Ford Fiesta, the Vauxhall Corsa, the Peugeot 1007 and the Smart forfour.
Hybrid cars
Hybrid vehicles pay reduced car tax and are exempt from the London congestion charge. The Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and Honda Civic IMA, combine a petrol engine and an electric motor powered by an energy storage device such as a battery pack.
All hybrids use regenerative braking, whereby energy is returned to the battery when braking, improving energy efficiency and reducing brake wear. According to the Energy Saving Trust, running costs are two thirds that of equivalent petrol fuelled vehicles, and although they cost around £2,000 more than conventional cars. hybrids improve fuel efficiency and therefore save money as fuel costs are rising.
Electric cars
Electric cars are generally limited to a range of about 60 miles or less between recharges, making them best suited to city driving. Most can be recharged by plugging them into an existing electrical socket and some councils are installing electric recharging points in car parks or on-street.
According to the Energy Saving Trust (www.est.org.uk 020 7222 0101), electric cars can cost £5,500 more than conventional vehicles, but they can cost as little as 1p a mile to run. Electric cars are not subject to road tax and do not have to pay the London congestion charge. Some areas that have residential parking permits also may give a discount to owners of electric vehicles.
Electric cars use a battery and electric motor to power the vehiclemeaning they have no emissions at the point of use, although critics will point out that the emissions are just shifted to the power station which is likely to be run on nuclear power or fossil fuels.
The G-Wiz model (www.goinggreen.co.uk) claims to consume just one quarter of the energy of a similar sized petrol car. The makers say it costs around £1.64 a day to run, equivalent to around 600 miles per gallon. The list price is around £8,000.
Link to more features on green motoring:
Choosing a greener car
Green travel
London taxi firm
buys hybrid vehicles
It was comments from passengers that encouraged London’s longest-established private hire and courier service to start using Toyota Prius cars - and by this summer Greater London Hire should have 32 of the petrol-electric hybrids on its fleet.
The latest batch of 12 Prius with green flashes recently joined the 17 cars already on the fleet, a third of which GLH aims to have "greened" in the near future. The passenger car service that GLH started nearly 40 years ago was one of the first in central London. Today, the Finchley-based company operates a fleet of 300 saloon, estate, MPV and executive cars, light vans and motorcycles around the clock, with 20-minute central pick-up and UK-wide parcel delivery among the services it offers.
GLH’s cars and motorbikes are exempt from congestion-charging, so this, for once, was not an incentive for a London fleet to switch to Prius. Instead the move was prompted by a customer survey that indicated a desire for a car that was different, and environmentally sound. With the current-generation Toyota Prius relatively new on the market, GLH took on five cars for a six-week evaluation period - and its staff were as impressed as their customers. "The comments were on the whole very positive," says GLH’s Operations Manager Dan Gurney. As a result the company ordered 12 more of the hybrids, the first Toyotas to join the GLH fleet and also its first alternative-fuelled vehicles. They replaced mainly Rover 75s and VW Passats.
The company now has a separate tariff for its Prius fleet, along with special "E for Eco" call-signs for each driver. "The drivers love the cars," says Mr Gurney. "Using the Prius saves them on average £30 or £40 a week on fuel - they’re self-employed contractors and sign a lease agreement under which we look after the maintenance. They also find driving the cars less stressful.
Visit The Green Network
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Useful transport links:
http://www.eta.co.uk/ - site of the Environmental Transport Association - ETA
The Department for Transport - UK Government site
http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk - for the ethical tourist
http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel -general travel advice from the Foreign Office before you go abroad.
http://www.travelhealth.co.uk - a good site with general health advice
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk - national rail enquiries
Electric bicycles
http://www.mylinkspage.com/roadrage.html - anti-car site
Sustainable Transport.org.uk - Campaigning to increase awareness of the environmental impacts of current transportation modes and to promote more sustainable alternatives
Transform Scotland.org.uk - The campaign for sustainable transport
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DFT: Department for Transport
Manage
Energy.net/conference/transport0602.html
G.A.I.A – The Green Advice and Information Agency (G.A.I.A)
London Congestion Charging Links
Road Rage
Sustrans.org.uk Sustainable transport charity working on practical projects to encourage people to walk, cycle and use public transport
EERE.energy.gov/RE/hydrogen fuel cells- US Department of energy - hydrogen fuel cells explained
Fuel Economy.gov/feg/fuel cell US Dept of Energy - Fuels cells, benefits and how they work
FuelCellWorld.org World Fuel Cell Council
Fuel Cell Today.com Portals for companies and individuals with an interest in the commercialisation of fuel cells
Biofuels for Sustainable Transport
PTI.org.uk UK Public Transportation Information
AirQuality.co.uk UK National Air Quality Information ArchiveChooseClimate.org/flying The true cost of air travel
Clean Car Campaign.org US campaign promoting a clean revolution in the motor vehicle industry
Geener motoring fuels -
www.est-powershift.org.uk - advice on how to convert to liquid petroleum gas (LPG) including where you can fill up, and grants for conversion. See also www.lpga.co.uk - he site of the LPG Association
www.toyota.co.uk/prius - the Prius is the most successful hybrid petrol/electric car favoured by some celebrities
www.evuk.co.uk - lots of information on electric vehicles
Transport Jobs
www.environmentjob.co.uk
www.amber-jobs.co.uk
www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl
Visit The Green Network
Guide to the greenest cars available in Britain
The Honda Civic 1.4 IMA Executive is the greenest car on Britain’s roads for the second year running, according to the Environmental Transport Association’s Car Buyers’ Guide 2006. The Guide, which highlights the best and the worst cars in terms of their impact on the environment, is published today on line at www.eta.co.uk by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA), the ethical alternative breakdown service.
Honda’s environmentally superior hybrid car offers a practical and stylish solution for those wanting to avoid the congestion charge and help the atmosphere with lower carbon emissions. Next, the Toyota Prius 1.5 Hybrid is the most efficient mass produced car on the market, says the ETA, with 66 mpg and CO2 emissions making it the lowest of all cars at only 104g/km.
The ETA’s Car Buyers’ Guide is an easy way to assess all the cars in Britain for their green credentials, an invaluable source for car purchasing, highlighting the winners in each category. If an off-road/SUV is a lifestyle choice then buyers can be reassured that the Honda CRV-2.2 i-CTDi Sport is the greenest choice and prestige marques with a good environmental rating include the Jaguar X-Type, winner of the Luxury Car Category and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class A160 CDI which tops the Small MPV Category. Sporty drivers may choose the Vauxhall Tigra 1.3 DDTi 16v 2 door convertible as it ranks as the most environmentally friendly car in its class.
The Guide also highlight’s the worst offenders in terms of damage to the environment. Top of the worst list for emissions – again for the second year running is the Lamborghini Diablo. This is closely followed by the Bentley Arnage R and two Aston Martin models: the Vanquish V12 and the DB9. The majority of the least green vehicles on the bottom of the list pack a mean environmental punch with vast engines. Vehicles like these can produce up to five times the amount of climate change gases as the Toyota Prius. Driving the Lamborghini* is the equivalent of cutting down three fully grown oak trees every day!
Surprises at the bottom of the list include the poorest performing Supermini: the Renault Clio Renaultsport V6 255, the worst City Car: Ford Street Ka 1.6i, and the worst Executive Car: the Volkswagen Passat W8 (275 PS).
“Although what car we drive continues to define us in terms of style and status, we must acknowledge the fact that our use of transport is the fastest growing cause of climate change,” explains Andrew Davis, director of the ETA. “Car emissions have a direct impact on the environment and climate change remains the number one threat to this country, over and above terrorism.
“As the provider of Britain’s only climate neutral automotive breakdown service, the ETA considers helping people to choose which car to drive as one of its most important objectives. The Car Buyers’ Guide provides an essential shortlist to help you choose the car that suits both your lifestyle and your conscience. Cleaner motoring advice is just a click away with the ETA.”
For the complete Car Buyers’ Guide visit www.eta.co.uk.
* Lamborghini Diablo = 520g/km CO2 and 16,000m a year travelled.
A fully grown tree absorbs 13kg of CO2 a year.
Link to more features on green motoring:
Feature on electric cars
Choosing a greener car
Green travel
Congestion charge rethink
KEN LIVINGSTONE is reviewing exemptions to the London congestion charge after being forced to grant free entry to a two-tonne luxury 4x4.
Owners of the Lexus RX400 can save up to £1,600 a year on the Mayor of London’s £8 daily toll. The £40,000 vehicle qualifies for an exemption certificate because it is a hybrid: it is powered by both a petrol engine and an electric motor.
However, it achieves less than 30mpg around town and produces twice as much carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas, as many small cars. It is in band F for road tax, the highest rating reserved for the most polluting vehicles.
Other manufacturers, including Ford and Land Rover, are developing hybrid 4x4s that would also be exempt from the charge under the present regulations.
Mr Livingstone is an outspoken critic of people who drive 4x4s in cities and said last year: “When you see someone trying to manoeuvre (a 4x4) round the school gates, you have to think, you’re a complete idiot.”
The mayor had wanted to impose a higher congestion charge on 4x4s but was advised that the charging system’s technology would not allow it. He is, however, planning to close the loophole being used by Lexus owners and, at the same time, introduce rules that could result in several other vehicle types losing their exemptions.
About 5,000 vehicles have been granted exemption, including cars fuelled by liquid petroleum gas or electricity. Hybrids use conventional fuel but were included in the list because the first versions introduced in Britain, such as the Toyota Prius, were far more efficient than the average car.
Leading figures at Transport for London have questioned exemptions for “green cars” because they cause just as much congestion as other cars.
Jenny Jones, the mayor’s green transport adviser and a Green Party member of the London Assembly, said: “The Lexus is masquerading as a green car but is far more damaging to the environment than many cars which have to pay the congestion charge. Its size means it causes more congestion and it also poses a danger to pedestrians and cyclists because of the high, unforgiving bonnet.
“We must act quickly to close the loophole being exploited by drivers who can easily afford £8 a day.”
Toyota, which introduced the Lexus last July, said that the 2,000 people in Britain who had bought the car were more interested in avoiding the “hassle factor” of having to pay the charge than the money they were saving.
A spokesman said: “The first reminder people get is a £50 fine which quickly turns into £100. Having an exempt Lexus removes the doubt.”
Toyota claims that the Lexus achieves 31mpg in town, but some owners challenge this figure. Anthony Ireland, a solicitor in Glasgow, bought one because he thought it was environmentally responsible. But he said that he had been disappointed by the fuel efficiency after achieving only “late 20s” in the city. He has now switched to a Jaguar X-type estate with a diesel engine.
A German car magazine recently tested a Lexus hybrid against the Mercedes M Class 4x4. In a 5,200-kilometre (3,231-mile) drive from New York to San Francisco, the Mercedes consumed an average 9.1 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres (31.05mpg), while the Lexus averaged 10.2 litres (27.70mpg).
The hybrid car market is more developed in the US, where there are 11 models compared with 3 in Britain. Sales there have been boosted by the popularity of hybrids among Hollywood actors. Naomi Watts, who starred in King Kong, arrived at the Oscars ceremony this month in a chauffeur-driven hybrid Lexus.
However, a US study found that more than half of American hybrid drivers were unhappy with their fuel economy.
Mr Livingstone recently bought a Toyota Prius, which is twice as fuel efficient as the Lexus. The mayor does not have a driving licence and said that the car would be driven by his partner.
Boost for eco-friendly vehicles
Data compiled by motor insurance company More Than has shown a dramatic increase in the popularity of eco-friendly vehicles. The research found that registrations of hybrid vehicles in 2005 were up by 74 per cent from 2004 levels.
Other findings suggest that one-in-six motorists in the UK would consider trading in their car for an electric or hybrid model if fuel prices continue to increase and that a billion hybrid vehicles would be running within 15 years. More Than's heads of motor insurance, David Pitt, welcomed the increasing popularity of 'green' cars.
"Given the growing concern about global warming it's encouraging that so many motorists are considering changing their driving habits....As awareness increases, I am sure we will see more innovation from the motoring industry, as well as incentives from the government to encourage motorists to become more eco-friendly."
More Than's research reflects the increasing visibility of environmentally friendly vehicles at expositions such as the Geneva Motor Show. Toyota will use the show, which runs from February 28th, to debut its updated Prius hybrid, while Citroen will be in Geneva to show off its C4 Hybride HDi. Hybrid cars are partly powered by
electric motors that recycle kinetic energy, leading to lower fuel consumption and reduced CO2 emissions.
Feature on electric cars
Edinburgh to miss
pollution targets
Edinburgh faces an air-pollution time bomb due to a lack of progress made with road toll plans and emission cuts, a leading environmental expert has warned.
The rejection a year ago of £2 road tolls is said to be a major reason for why the city will not meet emissions and air quality targets set for 2010. With such EU targets becoming mandatory at this time, the council and – by extension – taxpayers will feel the sting financially if nothing is done.
Seven particular areas in the city have been named as particular pollution "hotspots", where nitrogen dioxide emissions from vehicles severely exceed imposed targets. It is thought that the road tolls would have seen harmful emissions slashed in volume by around 20 per cent. Dr David Stevenson of Edinburgh University's School of Geosciences comments:
"There is no other way of significantly reducing traffic volume, apart from congestion charging or low-emission zones. The air-quality legislation is there for a reason, and that is because air pollution kills. Councils will start to get hefty fines if they exceed the standards. There is no easy way to tackle this, but a low-emission zone will work. Dirty cars should not be allowed [in these areas] and work needs to be done to improve the emissions from the public transport fleet."
The council said that there are no current plans for the suggested low-emissions zones, with transport leader Andrew Burns stating: "We are not anywhere near declaring a low-emission zone. Edinburgh has got good air quality compared to other British cities, and problems in the city are in very localised areas. I would be lying to say we can definitely meet the nitrogen dioxide targets, but what we can do is get closer to meeting them."
Source - ETA
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