Travelling light - or not - preventing and measuring air pollution

New Internationalist, June, 2003

Walking and cycling are obviously best, but not always an option. When you have a choice, go by public or collective transport rather than by private car. And if you are considering flying...

Flying

To calculate your carbon dioxide cost for any particular trip see: www.chooseclimate.org/flying To calculate how many trees are needed to absorb the [CO.sub.2] from a flight see: www.americanforests.org or www.treecanada.ca

[CO.sub.2] emissions per passenger on a few sample flights:

New York-Paris: 3.8 tonnes of [CO.sub.2]

Seattle-Beijing: 5 tonnes of [CO.sub.2]

Winnipeg-Miami: 2.2 tonnes of [CO.sub.2]

Cars

Each litre of petrol or gasoline produces 2.5kg of [CO.sub.2]

The greenest are likely to be zero-emission hydrogen fuel cars that should hit the mass market within the next few years.

LOOK OUT FOR:

Honda FCX (hydrogen fuel cell) currently on test in Tokyo and Los Angeles and planned for sale in Japan this year.

Toyota's FCHV hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle (based on the Highlander) on test in the US. BMW 745h (liquid hydrogen) on test worldwide, on sale in 2007.

Note: If the hydrogen these vehicles use is generated by renewable energy this option is as green as it gets, but if fossil fuels or nuclear energy are used even these cars will not be as green as they seem.

While we're waiting for the hydrogen revolution, here are some

BETTER BUYS

These include hybrid and fuel-efficient petrol or gasoline engines.


Conventional              Average  [CO.sub.2] tons
and bybrid                mpg      per year
Honda Insight
(petrol-electric hybrid)  65       3.1
Toyota Prius
(petrol-electric hybrid)  45       4.0
Suzuki Swift              39       5.0
Toyota Echo               37       5.2

Electric vehicles (best for short range driving)

The Sparrow; Ford's Think; Nissan's Altra and Hypermini; Honda's EV or Toyota's RAV4 EV. Again the electricity should come from renewable sources.

LPG (liquid petroleum gas) does less environmental damage than ordinary petrol or gasoline and is quite widely available now in a number of hybrid brands. Conversions to existing cars are possible too.

Diesel-fuelled vehicles are not included among the better buys as particles emitted are a threat to health.

GREENHOUSE MONSTERS

-- avoid at all costs

                                [CO.sub.2]
                       average   tons per
                         mpg       year

Ferrari 550 Maranello    10        18.7
Dodge RAM 1500 4WD       14        13.8
Chevrolet Suburba/
 GMC Yukon XL            15        12.9
BMW 5401 (A)             18        10.8

The Lincoln Navigator is another notorious guzzler.

Useful web sites

www.greenercars.com and www.fueleconomy.gov www.cleancarcampaign.org

Buyers Guide to Cleaner Cars at www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/ccbg/ccbg.htm

Driving the Future at www.drivingthefuture.com

Ethical Transport Association at www.eta.co.uk

World Car Free Day Consortium at www.ecoplan.org/carfreeday

British Columbia's Go-Green programme at www.gogreen.com

Car Free Cities at www.carfree.com European Car Sharing Network at www. carsharing.org

International Bicycle Fund at www.ibike.org Hyweb at www.hydrogen.org