How 'Green' is your Machine?

[mack_the_knife]

I was rather startled to find that my car had a 74 rating on 'Greenness', being a '06 Kia Spectra. Here I thought I was just saving myself money on gas

Granted that's only number 19 on the list.

So how green is your car? I know we got some people who have preached for the environment, have they put their car keys where their mouths are?

This Listing only goes to fifty or so places, but I'm sure there's a formula one could use.

 

[oggbashan]

A UK or European list would be very different.

The imperial gallon versus US gallon makes comparisons awkward.

Some of the very small cars over here are more fuel efficient than hybrids.

How 'greenness' is calculated varies. Do you just take fuel use and emissions or carbon use over the lifetime of the vehicle? A large Volvo driven for 200,000 miles and then scrapped by an environmentally friendly breaker may be greener overall than a much smaller car that lasts for a third of the time before replacement.

The environmental cost over the lifetime of a vehicle is important. If one car uses as much resources to produce as another but lasts twice as long then it may be greener despite a higher gas usage. Even delivery can make a difference. A car made in Korea sent by ship to New York may use less energy to get to the dealer than one made in Detroit.

Og

 

[mack_the_knife]

This is a good point, in truth. One unknown factor about those hybrids is how well their batteries will hold up over long-term use, and how much will they cost to replace wholesale when they all start to fail after a few years. This is the primary reason that, despite mpg being my main concern when buying a new car, that I opted for a conventional, high mpg car, rather than a hybrid (performance and general cost were secondary concerns).

I could not locate where they calculated their 'greenness'.

So far as the european 'smartcar' type vehicles. Considering the beasts I have to share the interstate with (idiot driven pickups and suv's - I don't fear the semis and buses so much), I'll stick to a car with at least a little meat to it, not that my Spectra has so much, but still more than the truly tiny cars (which ARE cute as hell and look like fun to drive).

 

[HeyNonnyNonny]

I don't have a car.

Unfortunately, in the last year I spent over 200 hours in the air, which is far more pollution than any car could acheive. Its part of my job, but its a big reason to change professions.

The best I can do currently is to pay into a carbon fund. I use this one and pay in twice what they recommend per flight (since I have the option of burying it amongst expenses/consultancy fees, I pay once, and so does whoever wants me to fly to wherever). There are lots of different carbon off-setting programmes. It isn't as good as staying at home, but it is something most of us can afford, and IMHO its well worth doing.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Hey, my Hummer wasn't even on the list!

Just kiddin...

 

[Alessia Brio]

Mine got an 86. I my car.

 

[Liar]

By bicycle kicks all your cars' asses.

 

[Xelebes]

I take the buses.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Mine's to old to make the list.

But the current version 2006 Hyundai Elantra was No. 10 at a 75. Mine is older but still has essentially the same engine. Not to bad.

 

[PayDay]

So how green is your car?

This is a joke, right? All of those environmental ratings are tweaked to encourage sales numbers. Green is relative to your vehicle's abilty to use the amout of the form of fuel it takes, but has no basis on atmospheric gas concentrations unless all vehicles were combined together across the board against a truely accurate reading of known and potential environmental swings.

My car only blows smoke on high rev shifts, fuel that can't burn fast enough, that's me being green