Changes: The World and YOU!!!

As we look for a solution to global warming, we need to understand that there are personal changes that each of us can make to help combat the effects of our nations output of CO2, Methane, and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Where can we start? A great place to start is by changing the thing everyone, at least once a day, uses…their car/cars. According to the American Council for an Engery Efficient Economy, U.S. car and light truck emissions for 2000 were at 284 MMTc/yr (million metric tons carbon), and in 2010 that number is suppose to rise to about 363 MMTc/yr (http://www.aceee.org/pubs/t012.htm).

The following graph shows the MMTc’s of cars and light trucks, in the U.S, during the span from 1990 – 2020.

 

So, the easiest thing families and individuals can do is switch the type of car that they drive; normally that means switching from a regular 4 person sudan to a fuel efficient or hybrid Toyota Camry or Prius, Honda’s Hybrid Civic, Ford’s Hybrid Escape, etc. According to the Australian Government’s Deparment for Climate Change, a regular 4 person car emits 0.08 kilograms of CO2…while driving a hybrid car emits 0.042 kilograms and can possibly save 20 tons of greenhouse gases and up to $10,000 during the lifetime of the car (http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/gwci/transport.html).

The following is a graph that shows the emissions (in kilograms) per person for different cenarios of transportation.

***The graphs for each section correspond to the link within the text***

“Modern Marvels: Environmental Tech”  Posted 2/26/2008

This was a show on the History channel about the new “green technologies” that are coming out within the recent years. For more information go to the home page and reference to February 26th, 2008.