ECO-LIVING - The first auto alternatives for the 21-st century

Some of you may like to think that you are not contribution to global warming. In fact, each of us, when you drive one of the many vehicles on the road, you are contribution to global warming. And with over 243 million vehicles, America is home of the largest passenger vehicle in the Earth. The burning of diesel and gas fuel releases carbon emissions into the air—and that means each time you drive, you up the ante.

In 1970s, the actual amount of miles driven has rising significantly since the oil crisis, when the US made admiral movement in reducing carbon emissions in general. Until the 1990s, that is-that’s when they in progress to rise again. Meanwhile, automakers continued to prevent attempts to raise fuel efficiency values. Thus, from the late 80s onward, miles driven increased and fuel efficiency dropped. The result? The problem of carbon emissions increased.

It’s a ‘toxic combo’—more and larger vehicles with higher amounts of miles driven partnered with reduced fuel efficiency—one that equals an increasing of the carbon emissions burden.

But don’t worry. While we cannot surrender our pleasure and dependence of our vehicles, as an individual you can take action to reduce your vehicle’s greenhouse gases, as well to helping to reduce dependence upon imported oil, save your wallet and cleaning the atmosphere we all breathe. Sound good? Very good. Keep reading this information to help make it happen:

1. Go Green: Learn about green vehicle fuels and use these alternative fuel vehicles. Or you can check out the fuel economy and emission information of your vehicle. Begin with the Fuel Economy Guide and Green Vehicle Guide to see how your 4-wheels shape up. Check if you have a FFV or flex fuel vehicle—with over five million flex fuel vehicles on the road recently—your vehicle might just be a ‘FFV sleeper’. Is yours on this list?
2. Go Easy & Maintain . . .: There are many factors shape your vehicle’s fuel economy—and one of the most important is a regular maintenance and easy driving habit. If you use a lighter foot on the gas pedal and brakes, avoid putting the pedal to the metal for rapid accelerations, and lessen idling time, fuel economy of your vehicle will get better and reduce greenhouse effect. The correct of tire pressure will also help in fuel economy.
3. Buddy up: Whether you desire to carpool with your friends, grab the bus, jump on your bike or locomote with your legs, they’re all habits to put your car parked in the garage-and reduce your contribution to the carbon emissions. Let your car in garage and choosing one of these alternatives just two or three times per week, and you can cut 1,590 pounds gas emissions in a year.
4. Plan first: When heading out to ensure of errands, try to combine your trips. When your car’s engine is cold, its consume twice as much fuel in addition to producing double as many gas emissions. So, try to combine your short trips with multipurpose trip with a warm engine and you’ll not only save time, but also your money and reduce your contribution to the carbon emissions.

Another articles by Johan Young you may interest in reading: Hybrid Pickup Trucks, Hybrid Car Rental, Eco Driving, Porsche Hybrid, Hybrid Car Manufacturers, and Hybrid Cars for Sale.

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One year ago, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers launched a ‘consumer awareness program’ called ‘Eco Driving’. The goal of ‘Eco Driving’ is to educate American drivers about how to reduce fuel consumption and decrease carbon emissions by changing driving habits. “The program helps drivers achieve the highest gas mileage available from every single vehicle on the road, regardless of size and age,” said Amy Corsinita, an Alliance spokesperson in an interview with hybridcars.com. Colorado and California are the first states that join this consumer awareness program, with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger spearheading the endorsement.

This consumer awareness program was met with ‘cynicism’ by environmentalists, who emphasize that the campaign throws a smoke screen over the industry’s slow move toward fuel-saving vehicles. In an interview with hybridcars.com, Jim Kleisch, senior engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists said, “Providing drivers tips on how to improve their fuel economy is helpful, but the industry needs to be doing a lot more than this. Consumers need cleaner and substantially more fuel-efficient vehicles on the showroom floors and until that happen, our economy and our environment are going to suffer.”

The ‘Eco Driving’ program teaches each American driver a set of best practices for driving and maintenance, allowing a typical car owner to ‘augment’ fuel economy about 15 percent. Driving and operation practices consist of: driving at optimum speeds, making the best use of synchronized traffic lights, utilizing proper braking techniques, and deciding when it makes sense to use air conditioning. On the maintenance side, the guidance tackles issues such as choosing which motor oil to use, as well as knowledge the effects of tire pressure.

Much of the information provided is ‘familiar’ sense. The idea is for motorists to start decrease their carbon footprint ASAP without having to purchase a new fuel-efficient vehicle, or wait years on the development of advance technology.

Another articles by Johan Young you may interest in reading: BMW Vision, Best Selling Hybrid-4, Hybrid Pickup Trucks, and Hybrid Car Rental.

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Toyota Prius’ average fuel economy is about 46 mpg. The average fuel economy of the United State passenger car fleet was a bit over 22 mpg in 2006. The average US driver travels 12,000 miles per year. And with these assumption, you can calculate that when US passenger car switch to Toyota Prius, you are reducing carbon emissions about 5,000 pounds. A good figure but you must sacrifice your wallet.

But I’ll give some tips and guides, skip buying a new car-save your money-but you can reduce carbon emissions.

Here are four things you can do to reduce carbon emissions which cost a heck of a lot less than buying the most fuel efficient car out there right now, the Toyota Prius.

1. Reduce Carbon Emissions with Switch To Green Power

Green power program is the greatest thing you can do to reduce carbon emissions. Generally, it takes only a few minutes to enroll and costs a few cents more per kilowatt hour. So, when you switching to green power you can reduce carbon emissions about 14,000 pounds (compare with switching to Prius – 5,000 pounds), and it costs just $200 per year.

2. Reduce Carbon Emissions with Eat More Local Food

You need a lot of carbon emissions to distribute your meal from where they were grown to get to your plate (Average United State meal travel about 1,200 miles). But, when you decide to eat more local food, you can reduce carbon emissions about 8,000 pounds and save more than 1.5 times the emission savings of buying a most fuel efficient car. Moreover, with this small a change in spending patterns, will be minimal your monthly budget (some local food may cost more than imported ones while others may be less expensive.)

3. Reduce Carbon Emissions with Simple Steps Do Add Up

There are many ways to reduce carbon emissions. From buying most fuel efficient car, eat more local food, or with green power program. And now, there are simple steps we can do in terms of reducing carbon emissions.

Here some tips and guides you can do to reduce carbon emission (about 5,350 pounds carbon emissions) and save the same amount as buying the most fuel efficient car (cost of under $300 for the year)

• Three days a week take carpool or public transit to work.

• Keep the tires on your car properly inflated.

• Wash your clothes in cold water and then air dry all of them, all the time.

• Install ten compact fluorescent lightbulbs to replace incandescent bulbs.

• Turn down your water heater to 120 degrees.

• Properly insulate your water heater.

4. Reduce Carbon Emissions with Adopt a Vegetarian Diet

Vegetarian habit has great benefits in terms of reducing carbon emissions. When you decide to adopt a vegetarian diet you can avoid the emissions of a bit more than 5,000 pounds of carbon emissions per year. Beside that, you can save about 20% on your monthly food costs.

Another articles by Johan Young you may interest in reading: Mercedes-Benz ML 450 Hybrid, EPA Gas Mileage, 2009 Lexus GS 450h, BMW Accessories, Lexus Hybrid Car, and BMW Hybrid Car.

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President Barack Obama, has a huge concern about our environmental and reduces our dependence on oil. In Elkhart, Indiana, Barack Obama says, “If we want to reduce our dependence on oil, put Americans back to work and reassert our manufacturing sector as one of the greatest in the world, we must produce the advanced, efficient vehicles of the future.”

And Obama administration announced 48 new advanced battery and electric drive projects that will receive $2.4 in Grants for Next-Generation of Batteries and Electric Vehicles. These projects, selected through a highly competitive process by the Department of Energy (DOE), are intended to accelerate the development of US manufacturing to build next generation of batteries and electric vehicles.

The spending is the US government’s bet on battery-powered vehicles—an attempt to overcome the challenges of creating small, reliable, lightweight, and affordable rechargeable hybrid and electric car batteries, as well as the infrastructure to allow drivers to bypass gas stations and charge their cars from the electric grid.

The new awards for next generation of batteries and electric vehicles cover;

• $1.5 billion in grants to US-based manufacturers to produce batteries and their components and to expand battery recycling capacity;
• $500 million in grants to US-based manufacturers to produce electric drive components for vehicles, including power electronics, electric motors, and other drive train components; and
• $400 million in grants to purchase thousands of plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles for test demonstrations in several dozen locations; to deploy and evaluate their performance; to install electric charging infrastructure; and to provide education and workforce training to support the transition to advanced electric transportation systems.

Here a list of the Recovery Act awards for electric drive vehicle battery and component manufacturing are, by category:

Cell, Battery, and Materials Manufacturing Facilities: $1,247 million

Advanced Battery Supplier Manufacturing Facilities: $235 million

Advanced Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Facilities: $9.5 million

Electric Drive Component Manufacturing Facilities: $465.1 million

Electric Drive Subcomponent Manufacturing Facilities: $32.3 million

The Recovery Act awards for transportation electrification are, by category:

Advanced Vehicle Electrification: $215.2 million

Transportation Sector Electrification: $22.2 million

Advanced Vehicle Electrification + Transportation Sector Electrification: $70.5 million

Advanced Electric Drive Vehicle Education Program: $39.1 million

Another articles by Johan Young you may interest in reading: Ford Fusion Design, Plug-in Hybrid, Hybrids SUV, Hybrid Cars List, and How Green is My Car

Source: GreenCarCongress.com

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