A gallon of gasoline weighs just over 6 pounds. When burned, the carbon in it combines with oxygen from the air to produce nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2). By switching from a gas guzzler to a hybrid, you can literally save the earth a couple of tons of greenhouse gases.
Just when you thought the story about Hummers being more energy-efficient than Priuses had bitten the dust, it bounces back to life. CNW Marketing, the source of the story, just released an update of their analysis. Check out our response from last year.
There are now more than one million hybrid gas-electric vehicles on American roads. Many will celebrate reaching the milestone of one million hybrids zipping around on power from their rechargeable batteries—and burning a lot less petroleum. But some environmentally motivated car buyers are concerned about trading one problem for another.
The list of detrimental health effects from vehicle air pollution sounds like a little shop of horrors.
In recent months, sky-high mile-per-gallon ratings have been bandied about for some upcoming electric vehicles. Skeptics point out that swapping oil-based gasoline for coal-based electricity just moves pollution around, without reducing it much if at all. Perhaps the best apple-to-apples comparison is provided by the Mini Cooper electric and gasoline stable mates. We do the math.
At last week’s 2009 Poptech conference, author Michael Pollan made this claim: "A vegan in a Hummer has a lighter carbon footprint than a beef eater in a Prius.” Days later, Pollan, author of the bestseller Omnivore’s Dilemma, retracted the statement after researchers showed that Hummers are significantly more destructive to the environment than hamburgers.
As automakers race toward bringing hybrid and electric cars into the mainstream, environmentalists worry about the ability to properly recycle the batteries that power those cars. Most industry analysts believe that we are a decade or more away from needing to recycle nickel or lithium auto batteries in significant volumes. Yet, the first lithium battery recycling plants are already being established.
General Motors is working hard to establish itself as a leader in the market for high-tech eco-friendly vehicles, but its actions since coming out of bankruptcy raise doubts about the depth of the company’s environment commitment. The "New GM" is technically a new company cleared of legal responsibilities for cleaning up its legacy toxic sites and safely recycling products containing mercury. But the company could face greater scrutiny in the court of public perception.
A Seattle neighborhood website reported a "rash of attacks" against Toyota Priuses. But Seattle Police were only able confirm one incident. "It doesn’t appear at this point to be any sort of pattern,” Detective Mark Jamieson told HybridCars.com.
Economists studying government tax incentives and rebates for green cars generally agree that such programs get limited bang for the carbon buck. However, the latest wave of papers is particularly negative about the Cash for Clunkers program.
