Posts Tagged green vehicle

Driving Green in Today’s Environment

With skyrocketing gasoline prices being what they are, the hazards of global warming, and the public’s concern about foreign oil, more and more automakers are offering electric, hybrid, and alternative fuel vehicles. While purchasing a green vehicle is a great start toward reducing the environmental impacts of driving. Of course, the vehicle you drive is the most important factor, but your driving habits and how well you maintain your vehicle will also impact the environment in a positive or negative way.

A Green house Gas (GSG) is any gas that, when released into the atmosphere, traps infrared radiation (heat) and causes a slow heating of the planet. The most common GHGs are: carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and nitrous oxides (N 2 0). CO 2 makes up about 70 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, which is why many vehicles produce several times their weight in greenhouse gases each year. In fact, most of the fuel you put in your gas tank becomes GHG emissions!

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Toyota Prius: top-selling car in Japan last year – first time hybrid clinches spot

Toyota Prius is the best selling vehicle in Japan for 2009, where hybrid cars achieve 10 percent of new vehicle sales. The Toyota Prius was the top-selling car in Japan last year – the first time a gas-electric hybrid has clinched that spot.

The Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Friday that Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius was No. 1 in its ranking of sales by vehicle models – with 208,876 Prius cars sold in 2009, nearly three times the numbers sold the previous year.

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Is Your Car Green?

There has for some time now been a movement afoot to make motoring a greener pursuit. Whatever one’s views on global warming – and there are respected scientists on both sides of the argument, making it a question that needs to be debated – there is no doubt that a car with poor fuel efficiency and without the necessary engineering in place can be a serious threat to the environment. Even if it is not contributing to climate change, there is no doubt that emissions from a car can contribute to a poorer atmosphere, with pollution making it more dangerous for many people to live in cities. Clearly, something has to give, and the movement to find cleaner, greener ways to drive is a step in the right direction in that sense.

The big hope for many on the green side of the argument has been – for at least the early stages of the argument at least – the electric car. Capable of operating without burning any fossil fuels itself, the electric car has been posited as one of the best ways to drive down carbon emissions and contribute to a better environment. The problem seems to be that electric cars, an idea that has existed for some time now, seem to be getting no closer to the day when they will be a hundred per cent efficient. There are few places where driving an electric car would be practical, given that they require recharging a lot more often than a normal gas-run car needs filling up. However much you may wish to see cleaner air for all, the fact remains that this is a genuine drawback.

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