All About: Greener driving

By Rachel Oliver - For CNN

(CNN) -- A fact that may surprise people: the most recycled consumer product in the world is the car: 95 percent of all cars get recycled at the end of their lives, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

(Picture: Smoke billowing out of a car's tailpipe. Clean car advocates would like to see these gone for good.)

Even though cars don't get recycled in their entirety -- as some materials are easier to recycle than others -- according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE), if you took an average car down to the local recycle yard, they could take 75 percent of it off your hands.

The reason cars are so environmentally unfriendly is basically due to the gasoline they burn. If you took the entire process that is involved in a car's average lifespan (from sourcing the materials, to manufacturing the car, to driving it, to eventually breaking it down for recycling) fuel would represent around 90 percent of that car's overall greenhouse gas emissions

America's oil addiction

Despite advances in the technologies surrounding cleaner cars, around 96 percent of American cars and trucks still rely on petroleum, needing 120 billion gallons of it every year, says ACEEE. Cars contribute greatly to the reason why the U.S. imports as much oil as it does -- around 20 million barrels every day (costing the country $1 billion daily) -- 40 percent of which goes straight into Americans' gas tanks.

America's oil-fueled cars play a disproportionately large role in the country's -- and the world's -- environmental ills, producing:

Nearly 50 percent of the world's auto-related greenhouse gas emissions
Nearly one quarter of all U.S. carbon dioxide emissions
Nearly two-thirds of U.S. carbon monoxide emissions
One-third of U.S. nitrogen oxide emissions
One quarter of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere
50 percent of all air pollution in the U.S.

The reason, environmentalists say, so much oil is set aside for cars is because they are not fuel- efficient enough. The fuel economy of American cars and trucks are now at a two-decade low -- the fuel economy of new cars and trucks back in 1987 was actually better than it was in 2004 (26 miles per gallon compared to 24.4 miles per gallon). Today it stands at around 25.3 mpg.


The last time strict fuel efficiency standards were imposed on U.S. auto manufacturers was in 1975 (it was also the first time) which called for 27.5 mpg within 10 years. That dropped to 26 mpg in 1986 following government lobbying by Ford and General Motors. The next time a new fuel standard would be set would be more than 20 years later -- at the end of 2007.

During that 20-year period, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has accused automakers of having "increasingly exploited loopholes in Congressional and regulatory language" and has accused the U.S. government of having "turned a blind eye to them or made them larger."

Auto manufacturers for example, have been allowed to reclassify minivans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and station wagons and certain cars as non-passenger vehicles, "thereby qualifying them to meet a lower fuel economy standard". And some vehicles have been exempted from fuel economy standards altogether.

Last year's U.S. Energy Bill stipulates that cars must improve fuel efficiency standards by 40 percent to reach a fuel efficiency standard of 35 mpg by 2020. UCS says that's not enough and wants fuel economy standards in the U.S. to reach 40 mpg by 2015 and 55 mpg by 2025. Doing that would "save three times more oil...than we could recover from the Arctic refuge" it says.

Automakers say incentive is needed

Auto manufacturers have tried to argue in the past that as long as petroleum remains cheap, consumers have no incentive to buy more fuel-efficient cars --which means they don't have the necessary incentives to build them.

That argument may not hold for much longer. At the beginning of 2008, the price of oil hit $100 a barrel for the first time and is now five times more expensive than it was at the start of 2002.

And that, The Economist pointed out in a recent leader, has been more down to politics than the lack of supply. Yes, there is a finite amount of oil for the world to drill -- but the real problem is where it is. Unless the likes of Exxon Mobil and Shell are given unfettered access to the likes of Iran or Venezuela's vast oil reserves any time soon, for instance, prices are going to stay where they are (or go higher still).

"The economic toll of expensive oil is just as high whether geology or politics is to blame," the Economist wrote. "And the best response is just the same. Policy should encourage energy efficiency and support research into alternative fuels."

All eyes on hybrid cars

In order to slash oil dependence, much attention of late has been given to the hybrid car.

Currently, hybrid gas-electric vehicles represent around 2 percent of the U.S. passenger car market, ENN reports. A recent study by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) suggested that with 20 percent market share, hybrids could slash greenhouse gas emissions by 180 million metric tons a year.

With 60 percent market share, it would be as much as 450 million metric tons -- the equivalent of taking 82 million cars off the road (a third of all cars on American roads). It would also save the country between 3 million to 4 million barrels of oil a day, "more than twice what the United States imports each day from Saudi Arabia," reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hybrids still use gasoline which means less fuel economy than, say, electric cars, which don't need fuel at all, or plug-in hybrids which can draw energy from the electricity grid. Neither cars are widely available yet -- in the U.S. anyway. (Hint: if you want to see what energy-efficient cars really look like, visit Norway or Sweden).

With patience and money, hybrid owners can convert their existing hybrids into plug-in hybrids, to further minimize the fuel they are burning. According to UCS, using existing "off-the-shelf technologies" motorists can "affordably and safely boost fuel economy by nearly 75 percent."

However, "affordable" is a relative term. If you live in California, for example and want to convert your Prius into a plug-in hybrid, it could cost you between $10,000 and $12,000 to install the extra batteries according to CNET, which points out, "at that price and with gas at $3 a gallon, it would take around 160,000 to 200,000 miles of driving to break even."

Efforts are under way, however, to create DIY open-source style conversion kits which could sell for as less as $3,000. The California Cars Initiative (CalCars) is aiming to have a kit ready by this summer, according to CNET, although as it will be a volunteer-based effort, that deadline is not guaranteed by any stretch.

The need for fuel-free cars

The best kind of fuel efficiency is no fuel at all. But simply taking oil out of the gas tanks does not solve all environmental problems.

The Reason Foundation for example, recently released a report saying that hydrogen cars are no panacea for the transportation problem. If anything, widescale implementation of hydrogen cars -- along with the necessary infrastructure to support them -- could actually boost CO2 emissions.

The reason? A "significant" amount of energy is needed to produce and move around the hydrogen that is needed in the first place. Furthermore it increases reliance on foreign-produced natural gas, the report adds. And the parts of the world with this biggest gas reserves with the exception of Russia are all in the Middle East.

We are quite a way yet from solar-powered cars, which still have to get past the issues of speed and load capacity (the heavier the vehicle, the slower you go). So that leaves the electric vehicle (EV).

The first EV took to the streets in 1834, a creation of Vermont-native Thomas Davenport. In that same century, a gentleman named William Morrison built an EV that could travel non-stop for 13 hours (admittedly at 14 miles per hour). And by 1900, an EV could go 180 miles on one fully-charged battery.

At its peak, in 1912, the EV industry had 35,000 vehicles on the road in the U.S. alone. Nearly a century later, many argue that they are still our best bet.

Efforts by the likes of GM to introduce EVs into the market in the 1990s floundered -- car makers said it was because of a lack of customer demand. It is doubtful they could argue the same point today.

EVs don't need fuel to power them, which means no tailpipe emissions. But 'no fuel' doesn't mean 'no problem'. Your average EV owner needs to plug into a grid to charge up. And depending on what kind of fuel powers that grid ultimately decides how environmentally-friendly the car actually is. That has led the likes of Toyota recently to suggest EVs are not appropriate for the Chinese market -- because it's electricity grid is powered by coal.

But even if the grid is 100 percent coal-powered, EVWorld.com argues, the overall CO2 emission savings still mean all EVs are a better bet environmentally than anything else on the road.

On average, cars emit 22 pounds of C02 (as well as other pollutants) for every gallon of gasoline consumed. An EV's CO2 emissions will come from whatever fuel is powering the grid it's plugged into. Assuming the grid is 100 percent coal-powered, and say the journey is 25 miles (which your average tank of gasoline will take you), then an EV will consume around 5 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity at 200 watt hours per mile, to get there, using up around 5 pounds of coal.

On average (depending on the type of coal used) 1 kWh produces 1.4 pounds of CO2 which would mean a 25-mile journey using 5 kWh would emit around 7 pounds of CO2 compared to your average vehicles emitting 22 pounds of C02.

As more types of renewable energy sources become more mainstream, grid-related emissions will drop even further. Equally some electric vehicle owners have been able to recharge their cars with solar panels, which means their emissions are practically zero (although the emissions involved with actually constructing the solar panels and the cars will mean that no cars are ever totally clean).

Issues remain with electric cars

There are issues still to be resolved with EVs. Overpowering the grid has traditionally been one of them. The environmental impact and safety record of the batteries is another.

On the first point, electric drive proponents point out that as most car owners would plug in and charge their car overnight, while demand is low, the strain on the grid would be negligible. The EPRI/NRDC study appears to support this, suggesting that even if 60 percent of cars on America's roads were plug-ins, it would only lead to increases in electricity usage of between 7 percent and 8 percent.

As for the issue of batteries, that may take some time to solve. Despite GM's planned EV comeback in 2010 with the Volt, heralding the return of mass-market players to the EV scene, the Wall Street Journal reports it "still hasn't solved the battery problem".

The problem being, it says, "how to make a small enough battery that will hold a big enough charge for these new cars -- and not be a risk to burst into flames". Specifically it is referring to lithium-ion batteries, which U.S transport authorities have cracked down on (loose ones in checked luggage are no longer allowed on planes, such is the level of concern of them exploding) following reports of lithium-ion batteries used in laptops and mobile phones overheating and bursting into flames.

According to the Journal, Toyota was going to use lithium-ion batteries in its new Prius, but shelved the idea (until at least 2010 at least) due to safety problems. There are a couple of players on the market however, who say they have got round the problem, one of them being laptop maker Toshiba.

But perhaps an even more environmentally-friendly car than the EV is the Air Car, which is an Indian invention. The Air Car runs on nothing but compressed air and can be easily filled up at any gas station. All the car needs is 320 liters of air, which will cost Indian consumers around $2, according to Popular Mechanics.

If consumers don't want to even pay for that, they can plug their car into the local grid and an in-built air compressor will do the job in 4 hours. Air Car is due to launch in India this August and 12 countries including Germany, Israel and South Africa have placed orders with Air Car's manufacturer Luxemboug-based MDI.

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Gas guzzlers get new lives -- as tire-smoking hybrids

By Sean Callebs - CNN

WICHITA, Kansas (CNN) -- On a beautiful, crisp late fall afternoon, rock icon Neil Young took his 1959 Lincoln Continental for one last spin before a team of mechanics ripped out its gas-guzzling engine to make way for an electric motor.

(Picture: Neil Young watches as mechanics remove the engine from his 1959 Lincoln Continental.

1 of 3 Car buffs may think it's sacrilege to tear apart an automotive classic, but Young wants it to have a new life as a fuel-efficient hybrid.

"If we're going to make a difference, truly make cars more environmentally friendly," Young said, "we have to make that emotional connection."

Young said everyone has a connection with an old car like the Lincoln.

It only took about an hour for Johnathan Goodwin and his four-man team to pry the engine out of Young's Lincoln. He'll have the new engine installed in 45 days.

Talking about the old motor, Goodwin says, "Of course, it's not fuel efficient at all. It's a big polluter, one of the biggest rawest forms."

The Lincoln's new electric engine will power the car and when it begins to lose juice, Young will simply flip a switch and the car will run on biodiesel fuel until the electric motor is recharged. "A 19-foot-long car, the longest car ever made at its time. Two and half tons, the heaviest car at its time," Young said, "And it can get 100 miles to the gallon, not 10 miles to the gallon."

Young renamed his car Linc-Volt, and is making a movie about the transformation, which he hopes to release next year.

Goodwin is making a name for himself -- and his company, H-Line Conversions -- by turning gas-guzzling behemoths like Hummers, Cadillac Escalades, Jeeps and other big American cars into clean-power machines.

The first thing he does is remove the old inefficient engine -- even if it's a brand new vehicle -- and replace it with a diesel engine that can run on biodiesel.

"It's the transformation of what I call old technology to new technology," Goodwin says.

Here's his analogy: Remember 15 or so years ago when a cellular phone was the size of a brick. Now it's a lot smaller, because the industry underwent a ton of changes over the years.

The same kinds of advances are made in engines. But since it's so expensive, changes to cars are made in leaps, not tiny steps.

What's the drawback of his method? You guessed it. Cost.

"It's not cost-effective for someone to run out and spend $40,000 to double the fuel economy, but I have no shortage of customers," Goodwin says.

Including California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's having his Wagoneer converted to biodiesel.

Goodwin, 37, drives a 1987 gas burning Wagoneer, rents his home and will sheepishly tell you he didn't graduate from high school.

Expect to hear a lot more about Goodwin in the future.

Companies are knocking down the door to work on projects with him.

Goodwin's developing a download that can be installed in a car's computer and improve the mileage by five to seven mpg without losing performance. He expects it to cost about $200.

Ask Goodwin what his favorite project is, and he answers, "the next one" but the Linc-Volt project has been special. "We're going to prove you can have your cake and eat it too so to speak," Goodwin proudly boasts.

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Reasons to buy a hybrid -- or not

Story Highlights

There are two reasons to buy a hybrid -- save the world, or save on gas costs.
Your reason for wanting a hybrid will determine whether you should buy one.
If gas prices drive your decision, it could be 2 to 4 years before you break even.
The trim package will determine how soon you recoup paying extra for a hybrid.

OK, it's official: Hybrid vehicles are definitely the wave of the future or at least one of them. With gas prices remaining over $3 a gallon and oil prices up around $100 a barrel, the need to save on fuel -- and fuel costs -- is clearly not just a passing trend. And, of course, concerns about air quality and global warming seem to mount every day.

So, it would seem that this is the right time to take the plunge and buy a hybrid. But first there are some questions you need to ask yourself. One key question is this: Why are you buying a hybrid? Is it to save on gas costs -- or is it to do your part when it comes to cutting back on fossil-fuel emissions, which foul the air and contribute to rapid climate change?

(Picture Left: Ford Escape Hybrid)

That question has been a valid one the last few years, because hybrid vehicles can be more expensive than their non-hybrid counterparts, if you're comparing apples to apples. (That is, if you're comparing two cars of the same size, same equipment levels, etc.)

One school of thought that was advanced a year or two ago is that you pay such a high up-front "premium" for a hybrid that it could take many years before you "break even" on the amount you would save in fuel costs. In that scenario, your incentive for buying a hybrid vehicle would have to be largely driven by a concern for the environment. Which, of course, is not a bad thing. If we're going to clean up the air and reverse the effects of rapid climate change, perhaps that's just the premium we'll all have to pay as we do our part.

But more recently, with gas prices rising even further and hybrid car prices getting closer to non-hybrid counterparts, it is likely that you will recoup that up-front premium in just a few short years.

So we decided to find a couple of experts on the topic, and pose this question: "Why should people buy a hybrid -- for the cost savings, or just for the environmental benefits?"

One such expert is Bill Reinert, the manager of alternative-fuel vehicle development for Toyota, which produces the most popular hybrid vehicle on the road today -- the Toyota Prius.

"First, let's take a look at the fact that the courts have ruled that C02 is a harmful pollutant, and that Congress has also pushed the auto industry to investigate alternatives to fossil fuels, and is considering regulations as we speak," says Reinert. "So it's clear the government is addressing this problem -- how to reduce C02 emissions -- in a fairly aggressive manner. And hybrid vehicles are one of the most effective ways to do that right now. So it's unavoidable that this is going to be a major direction the industry will go in, even if it didn't want to."

Reinert points out that that there are also emission reductions to be achieved in the "total fuel cycle."

"You also have to consider the emissions that are produced when you extract the oil from the well, and transport it, and convert it to gasoline, and get it into the pump," he says. "So when you drive a hybrid, you're also helping to reduce all of those 'upstream' emissions."

Another factor to consider is the urbanization of the world's population.

"At this point in history, half the world's population lives in urban environments," says Reinert. "And although urban areas cover only 4 percent of the world's land mass, they use 90 percent of our resources. So, how a vehicle performs in urban environments is crucial when it comes to the impact on the environment. That's where a hybrid really offers some key benefits.

"In urban settings, you can just shut off the engine and run it in purely the electric mode for six or eight miles -- and that range is going to get better with every generation of hybrids. And this ability is going to go a long way toward reducing or eliminating emissions signatures of automobiles -- which also happens to be a key issue in the development of the lungs of young children in these urban areas."

Which brings us to the cost issue. Trying to calculate how long it will take you to recoup your up-front premium when buying the Prius is problematic, because there is nothing to compare it to. The Prius only comes as a hybrid, so you can't compare it to, say, "a V6 gas-only version" of the Prius. The Prius's MSRP is $20,950 - $23,220, depending on level of equipment, and has a fuel economy rating of 48/45/46 (city/hwy/combined).

However, it is possible to compare a Toyota Camry Hybrid to a "regular Camry."

The Camry Hybrid is powered by a 4-cylinder engine, but for comparison purposes, Toyota spokesman John McCandless claims that, "if you take into account the equipment level of the Camry Hybrid -- and that it has the performance of a V-6 -- the best apples-to-apples comparison is to compare the hybrid to a V-6 Camry LE. Those base prices are less than $2,000 apart -- $23,640 for the Camry V6 LE, vs. $25,000 for the Hybrid."

Toyota reports that the Camry Hybrid's fuel economy rating is 33 mpg city/34 mpg highway. Meanwhile, the Camry V6 gets 21/31 mpg, city/hwy.

For purposes of comparison, McCandless used a combined fuel economy rating, splitting the difference between highway and city mileage.

"So if you drive 15,000 miles a year, and you buy the Hybrid version, you'll be using about 454 gallons a year," says McCandless. "Meanwhile, if you get the V6 LE, you'll be burning 635 gallons a year. At $3.20 a gallon, that's a fuel-cost saving of about $547 a year. So it should take you three or four years to recoup the up-front premium you paid to buy the Hybrid. Plus, you get the satisfaction that you are easing the emission imprint on the planet."

Another popular hybrid on the road is the Honda Civic Hybrid, which can be purchased for even less than the Camry Hybrid. The MSRP of the regular Civic with the 4-cylinder gas engine ranges from $14,810 - $29,500, while the Civic Hybrid's MSRP is a flat $22,600. So, in the case of the Civic, the calculations will depend on what trim level and features you order if you go with the regular Civic 4-cylinder. The Civic Hybrid's fuel economy rating is 45 mpg hwy/40 mpg city compared to 34/26 for the regular Civic.

"The Civic EX [AT] has an MSRP of $19,510 and gets 29 mpg in the EPA combined cycle," says Martin. "The Civic Hybrid has an MSRP of $22,600 and gets 42 mpg in the combined cycle. That's an MSRP price difference of $3,090, and a mileage difference of 13 mpg.

"At an of assumed gas price of $3.20/gallon for 15,000 miles/year, it would ordinarily take a little over 6 years to pay back that difference," he continued. "However, the Civic Hybrid still qualifies for a $1,050 federal tax credit until June. That credit can bring the price difference between the two trim levels to only $2,040. Taking that into account, using the same cost per gallon and 15,000 miles/year, it would only take 3.98 years to pay back the difference."

Another popular hybrid is the Ford Escape Hybrid. The Escape Hybrid's MSRP ranges from $26,330 - $28,080, and its fuel-economy rating is 30 mpg hwy / 34 mpg city, while the regular Escape has an MSRP range of $18,770 - $25,520, and a fuel economy rating of 28/22. At press time, Ford had not yet provided its own "payback-time" calculations.

One expert who extols the virtues of hybrid vehicles -- both for their environmental benefits and cost savings -- is Bradley Berman, the editor of Hybridcars.com who also writes about hybrid vehicles for publications like the New York Times and Business Week.

"Not all hybrids are created equal, when it comes to price, because it depends on what equipment level you're looking at," says Berman. "But if you buy the most fuel-efficient ones, you'll definitely get a return on your premium within a few years."

As for the Prius, Berman points out that "people who are considering a Prius are probably not entry-level buyers who are also looking at a Toyota Yaris or some other sub-compact. They're going to the next tier. They're comparing the Prius to other cars in that price range -- cars that, if they bought them, they'd be spending that extra money on other features and options."

Berman also notes that "the data I've seen, from J.D. Power, and Polk Automotive, show that the customer satisfaction rate among buyers of hybrid vehicles is 80 to 90 percent. And the market penetration of the hybrid vehicles is increasing. Initially, it was just early-adopter types, but now we're seeing more and more people buying them who probably wouldn't have considered them two or three years ago."

Berman also cites the "tech appeal" of the hybrid vehicles. "Hybrids definitely appeal to people who are into 'fun technology'," he says. "If you were one of the folks who went out and got an iPod or iPhone as soon as they came out, and if you use a TiVO instead of a VCR, then you'll probably like the fact that today's hybrids are the most advanced vehicles out there today in terms of electronics. So they have sort of a 21st-Century-Geek appeal," he adds with a laugh.

If you're ready to make the leap into the hybrid-car world and are wondering which one to buy, there are a few factors to consider, says Berman. "One important decision is the size of the vehicle." If you really, really need an SUV-sized vehicle, there are a number of hybrid SUVs that are on the market now or coming onto the market soon," notes Berman. "But even the most fuel-efficient hybrid SUVs aren't as fuel efficient as most of the conventional gasoline-powered sedans, just because of their size, and the size of the engines."

Styling is another factor. "Some people think the Prius is the ugliest thing ever, but others love it. And environmentally-minded folks love the way it looks because the body style calls attention to the fact that it's a 'green' car. But if you're into more conventional styling, the Civic or Camry or Escape might be the way to go."

One key point that Berman likes to make is that today's hybrids "are still essentially gasoline vehicles. The importance of today's hybrids is that they're forming a bridge to future technology -- to what we will see 20 years from now. And it's a symbolic shift away from the gas-burning internal combustion engine. And that's a key, because the facts about climate change and the global oil markets are incontrovertible.

"We definitely need to get off of fossil fuels, and hybrid vehicles of both today and the future are an excellent way to do that."

Taken from AOL, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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