Why Go Green?

Everyone’s talking about it, but why go green? You may want to save the world or save your bank balance. By changing the car you drive and the way you drive you can reduce your carbon footprint, reduce your impact on climate change and save money. Driving green can be cheaper because it uses less petrol and makes you eligible for tax benefits.

What is green?

Technically speaking ‘green’ is the human perception of light around the wavelengths 520 -570 nm, however that is not exactly what we mean by green cars. The paint job is not necessarily the important issue in this sense. Green is used as a symbolic representation of nature and the environment and a green car is one that embodies these concepts into its design.

A ‘green’ car may seem like a contradiction in terms however real efforts are being made to improve the effect they have on the environment. Obviously the greenest car would be no car, but these busy days that is not always possible. In order to help you get around in the most environmentally friendly way we’ve complied this mini-site with all the green car information you could ever want. The criteria for a green car can be measured in terms of fuel in miles per gallon and CO2 emission in grams per kilometre, read on to find out more about these figures.

Climate Change

What is climate change?
Climate change is a word banded around frequently these days but what does it actually mean. Climate change is the significant change in average weather conditions e.g. temperature, rainfall, wind etc. These changes have been taking place since the world began and their fluctuations have shaped the evolution of the world we live in.

The weather is a product of many factors and variables where permanent differences in these can cause climate change. Natural factors include the release of gases through tectonic activity or variations in solar or orbital regularity. More recently in the history of earth anthropological, or human, effects are contributing to climate change.

What is happening?
Climate change is an umbrella term that embodies many outcomes of average weather changes. Over the course of history this has included periods of extreme high temperatures and freezing ice ages. In the modern day the main anthropological effect of climate change is known as global warming, or the greenhouse effect. This is where extra gases released by the effects of human activity are altering the atmosphere. The way they work is similar to the effect of a greenhouse, hence the name. Heat energy from the sun penetrates the atmosphere but does not reflect back out to space as it is trapped by the gases in the atmosphere.

How does motoring affect climate change?
The average car uses fossil fuels to create power as these carbon sources hold a high amount of energy in their bonds. In an internal combustion engine this energy can be harnessed to power vehicles. The process of combustion produces many particles and gases, such as the greenhouse gas CO2, as a by-product from the reaction.

Atmospheric CO2 has rapidly risen from 313 ppm (parts per million) in 1960 to 375 ppm in 2005. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have concluded that ‘most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations’.

What can we do to prevent it?
Almost every manufacturer in the industry is thinking of ways to make their cars more efficient and less harmful. This ranges from cutting edge technology into new fuels and energy sources to enhancing old technology. New fuels, new engines, new tires, new paints, even new car shampoos are more environmentally friendly. This mini-site covers all the new technologies and breakthroughs in this area and will be the first to let you know.

Economic Reasons

Petrol prices
Petrol prices have risen dramatically recently and are continuing to do so. There are many reasons for this such as dwindling stocks, global security fears and economic instability. Freak accidents such as hurricane Katrina affected the refinement of oil and pushed up American prices however less localised reasons are to blame for the global rise. Stocks in certain countries are beginning to dwindle creating a higher demand. An organisation called OPEC controls the production of 35.6% of the world’s oil and has failed to sufficiently increase output. Speculators have also been blamed for pushing the up prices with panic buying due to these production issues and security threats to supplies.

To compound the high price of oil the UK government also impose an extremely high duty tax of £0.57 per litre which then has VAT added on to the total price. In 2008 the average UK family is expected to pay around £1000 in petrol taxes alone.

In fairness to Alistair Darling and the British Government these high taxes are designed to decrease our independence on oil, as most of our oil is imported therefore we lose a lot of money to oil producing states. In addition it also encourages drivers to use more environmentally friendly means of transport such as green cars.

Cash Benefits
The incentives to green driving is not just encourages through petrol taxation, the government use other schemes to promote the use of cleaner fuels. Achieving lower carbon emissions and promoting a greener space is an important goal of local and national governments. By driving green you could be saving yourself a lot of money.

Road Tax
The government have recently introduced a groundbreaking new scheme to effectively target those who drive cars with high emissions and reward those who are environmentally friendly.

This new taxation system is based on carbon emissions and also includes a showroom tax which is payable after one year after purchase. By definition a green car generally produces less than 150 g/km CO2 and these cars are the big savers on this scheme. Compared to the previous scale many green cars could now make savings up to £42.

Congestion Charge
Transport for London also reward green car drivers by giving them a 100% discount from congestion charges. Usually either £8 or £10 per day to drive in the congestion zone, by driving an electrically powered or alternatively fuelled vehicle the charge is waived.

End of Life Vehicles (ELV)
When buying or leasing a new car it is important to think of it at the end of its life. As more and more new cars are registered each year over two million being scrapped creating a problem in their after life. 80% of cars are recycled each year however it is mainly for ferrous metal which constitutes only 63% of the average car, the rest goes to landfill sites across the UK. Due to improper handling 50% of the 20,000 tonnes of oil extracted is released into the environment causing contamination. In 1984 cars were made from 8.5% plastic whereas now it is 11%. Only 14,000 tonnes is recycled of the 121,000 that goes to landfill. There are also other issues regarding the recycling of the other parts such as glass and tyres etc...

Many green cars are now designing in features that will make it easier to recycle them when their life as a functional vehicle is over. This kind of unselfish green design is also set to become more important with EU directives. The above ‘showroom tax’ is also to encourage the re-use of second-hand vehicles above new ones.