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Motor Vehicles, Alternative Fuels and the Environment |
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| Energy and Human Ecology (Page 4) | ||
| We discuss cars and motor vehicles, and fuels where their
use is claimed to give some environmental benefits. Topics include the alternative
fuels Bio-diesel, Ethanol, Liquefied
Petroleum Gas (LPG), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG),
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), and Hybrid
and Electric Vehicles. UK Excise Duties
and Eco-labels are also described. This page links to many
specialist, reference articles.
Cars are the most prolific of road vehicles but there are others like Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and Multi Purpose Vehicles (MPVs, aka breeder wagons), motor-bikes, vans, lorries, trucks, taxis and buses. Other forms of motor vehicles include aircraft, boats and trains. They transport passengers and freight. In general, these motor vehicles are major contributors to greenhouse gases and other pollutants because, traditionally, they burn fossil fuels. The condition worsens daily with detrimental consequences to the earth's fauna and flora. Thus a sea change is needed to reverse the trend. Greenhouse gases are released in nature, but a balance is achieved by complementary sinking. In contrast, motor vehicles normally burn fossil fuels, thereby releasing carbon compounds (and other noxious chemicals) which were bound inertly into the earth's crust. For more explanation see our Reference on Global Warming, Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Sinks. To reverse the current trend we can:
No dissertation on motor vehicles, which spotlights cars, would be complete without a mention of Jeremy Clarkson. He's a lad in the UK who reviews cars, presents car programmes on TV and writes prolifically and eclectically in the Murdoch press. He is a wordsmith with some of the style of Jerome K ditto (wholesale version), the witty sarcasm you'd expect from Black-Adder and the dedication of a fascist. His articles are most entertaining, occasionally despite, but mostly because of, his non-PC stance; pity about his presenting. Unfortunately in his specialist subject he is a Vrooom, Vrooom addict who likes loud exhausts and gas guzzlers, he therefore epitomises the polar opposite of our mission. We don't know what he's going to be when he grows up but hope he carries on with his outrageous writing for ever. |
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Travelling Efficiently and Considerately
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As well as reducing
global and local pollution levels we must try to minimise danger and inconvenience
to others in the community. |
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| The Environmental Transport Association (ETA) is an environmental and ethical business aiming to raise awareness of the impact of excessive car use and help users make positive changes in their travel habits. They claim to be the world's first climate-neutral motoring organisation, are responsible for research into environmental transport issues and produce an annual Car Buyers Guide. They started Green Transport Week in 1992 and inaugurated European Car Free Day held on 22nd September every year. | |||||||||
| ShipVehicles, a US site, has an interesting and informative set of articles on Energy Use in Transportation as well as Greenhouse Gases and Regulated Emissions. | |||||||||
| Out with the old funding ... | PowerShift, CleanUp and Autogas+
(for Scotland) were grant schemes run by the UK Energy Saving Trust (EST)
to encourage the use of 'cleaner' vehicle fuels. Grants were available
to individuals and operators for a range of vehicles from cars through vans,
cabs and heavy vehicles. Unfortunately these schemes were discontinued during 2005. |
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| ... and in with the new ... | The Energy Saving Trust Low carbon research and development grant scheme is supporting the development of new low carbon vehicle technologies that are typically 3-4 years from launch (pre-competitive stage) and 5-7 years from market launch (industrial research stage). The scheme aims to encourage collaborations between central government, technology developers, research centres, operators and private investors. It is also hoped that the scheme will help to meet the need to produce more low carbon vehicles, thus making them more readily available to consumers and businesses in the UK. |
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| ... and other help. | The EST help businesses and organisations of all sizes to run their fleets more efficiently. Funding from Government Departments enables them to deliver an extensive transport advice programme in England, Scotland and Wales. Their services are usually free and have already helped hundreds of organisations to cut their costs, reduce their carbon footprint and improve their social and environmental reputation. | ||||||||
| The CarbonNeutral Company: most of us travel by aircraft and they are serious polluters. You might not think that there is much you can do, but try this for size. Why not pay a voluntary carbon-neutral tax and plant a tree or two? Better still click the silver ball to go to the CarbonNeutral Company site where you can calculate the cost and pay for your carbon. Our example (August 2012) of a return journey for two, from LGW to Almeria, southern Spain cost only £7.70. | |||||||||
| Cheap Car Insurance, a US site, has an interesting page 'Green Drivers: Tips for Eco Friendly Commuting and More!' with tips and info on sustainable transport, reducing carbon footprint etc. | |||||||||
| Car Sharing | The Government's Act on CO2 site explains how car clubs work, how to join a club and find a local car. Car clubs provide their members with quick and easy access to a car when they need one and vary from small, community-based enterprises to commercial operations. |
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carpooling.co.uk is a car sharing platform to share a lift within the UK and Europe. You can offer or search for vacant seats on a journey and use their journey planner to search their database by date and route. |
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LiftShare.com provides a free UK car sharing service, helping you to find someone travelling your way so you can share your journey, saving money and cutting your carbon footprint. The also offer a business service. |
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National CarShare provides a free UK national car sharing service, designed to be flexible, allowing people to car-share with various people as it suits them, not just to find two people who can car-share on a regular basis. |
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| It is quite impractical to expect
that alternative fuels can be comprehensively introduced quickly.
The lengthy development of road transport has resulted in a plethora of
sophisticated vehicle types using highly evolved engine technologies accompanied
by heavily invested fuel supplies and distribution infrastructures. The
factors which dominate any change are discussed in some detail in our Reference
article on Motor Vehicle Pollution, Alternative and Renewable Fuels. As a result advances are taking place in those fuels which can use the existing infrastructures and engines (with some modifications). Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Liquefied Natural Gas, Ethanol and Bio-diesel are examples of fuels which allow the use of the existing systems and Hybrid Vehicles depend absolutely on traditional fuels. Hybrids do make a step forward towards electric driven road transport but for the time being we can't expect to have true purely electric powered road vehicles in abundance. Not all the 'alternative' fuels are good for the global environment, a more meaningful test is whether or not they are renewable. Those that are renewable, for example bio-diesel and bio-ethanol, rely on energy crops and we cannot expect a total conversion to these because of agricultural limitations. In the UK (and many other countries) there is not enough land to satisfy the hypothetical demand, furthermore the essential natural bio-diversity could be destroyed. It is therefore necessary that the replacement of fossil by renewable fuels is carried out at a sustainable pace using maximum variety of sources and technologies. |
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| The Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC) is a US site giving lots of general information covering alternative transportation fuels, alternative fuel vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, idle reduction technologies, fuel blends, and fuel economy. The AFDC is sponsored by the US Dept of Energy's Clean Cities and Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) fleet programs. | |||||||||
| Friends of the Earth (FoE) provide a pdf document discussing various cleaner cars and fuels. This link is to the pdf file. | |||||||||
| The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership (LowCVP) is a partnership, in the UK, of the automotive and fuel industries, Government, academia, NGOs and other stakeholders to promote the shift to clean low carbon vehicles and fuels. | |||||||||
Next Green Car gives information on different types of alternative fuels and technologies including LPG, natural gas, bio ethanol, biodiesel, hybrid, electric and fuel cell cars, as well as green car info, e.g. emissions, fuel economy, road tax, emission ratings and more. |
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Most UK cars are liable to an annual
'road tax' known formally as Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) or Graduated Vehicle
Excise Duty (GVED). VED applies to cars registered before 1 March
2001 charged by engine size. After that date GVED, based on CO2 (measured
in grammes per km or g/km) is designed to encourage the manufacturers and
users of more fuel efficient cars to reduce the impact on the environment.
There are six bands for GVED, with the lowest being 'AAA' (up to 100 g/km)
then 'AA' through to the highest which is 'D' (above 185 g/km). You can
imagine some retrospective head scratching giving rise to those lowest categories.
In general most other UK motor vehicles are also subject to excise duty and vans, buses, HGVs etc have to pay according to complicated rules. Accurate information can be found in one of the links below. Certain fuel types are favoured by reduced duty to encourage their take up. Gas fuels seem to be the main ones but the system is flawed because, for example, LPG is a fossil fuel, but is favoured, while there is no allowance for biodiesel or bio-methanol which would be far better from the climate-change point of view. Ironically diesel (of any kind) is penalised with higher ED than petrol because "Diesel cars tend to have lower CO2 emissions per kilometre but (in many cases) produce higher levels of other pollutants". It does seem that British politicians and bureaucrats can't get their heads around the need for reducing global warming and are fixated on tailpipes. Sad. Eco-labelling came into force in Britain on September 1 2005. This means that showrooms have to display signs showing the CO2 emissions and estimated fuel costs for each vehicle. The eco bands are the same as those for GVED But with hindsight they are graded from 'A' to 'G', no head scratching there then. It was a positive move, mainly because its nil cost, but we can't really see those SUV posers will feel the cold draught of reason just because of this public display. Still if only one person gets a more climate-friendly car then that would be a score. |
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| The Government's Directgov site has car fuel data, CO2 and tax calculator tools. You can find the emissions, tax band and excise duty cost for new & used cars. | |||||||||
| Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) based in Swansea, Wales provides answers to questions related to taxation and other vehicle regulations that UK vehicle owners didn't even know existed. It tells you how much Excise Duty it is going to squeeze out of you. It covers the broad picture; you need to know the type of vehicle, registration date and band. If you know the make and model but not the band try the VCA below. | |||||||||
| The London Congestion Charge may be fully discounted for some classes of vehicles or users, although there is a small annual registration fee. One of the classes is alternative fuel vehicles. If, for any reason, you think you may be exempt try this Transport for London link. Alternatively check with the PowerShift register to be found on the EST site (see links above). | |||||||||
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| Hybrid vehicles are, we believe, essential
to the minimisation of global warming even though their contribution, currently,
is fractional. In 2011 there is no single source of fuel which can compare
with petroleum products in terms of instant bulk availability, energy density
and cheapness. Hence a wide diversity of practical renewable sources must
be developed. Hybrids form one important strand of this diversity. They add batteries and portable, kinetic-energy-driven
electric generators and motors to standard petroleum fuelled motor vehicles.
Although more complex than conventional vehicles, hybrids are underpinned by existing engine technologies and fuel distribution
infrastructure. The small adjunctive gains in energy reduce fossil fuel
consumption and are truly renewable and green and we believe they have significant potential for a much greater contribution. Hybrid vehicles can be implemented in a variety of ways. For example a 'series ' hybrid uses the petroleum engine solely to drive a generator, which then charges the batteries and/or drives the electric motors, then all the mechanical drive comes from the electric motors. A 'parallel' hybrid derives its' mechanical drive from both the electric and petroleum engines. Thirdly, superimposed on these types is the concept of 'plug-in'. With this variation the batteries can be charged from the mains as well as being refreshed while in motion. There is no reason why these three modes should not be combined in one vehicle. This description is a brief summary and you should look elsewhere for more details; hybridcars.com is a good start (see link below). We feel that a form of hybrid engine is vital to the future of green electric vehicles. Let's suggest a design. While accepting that electric batteries are an excellent option (providing they are charged from renewable sources) there is the ever present danger that they will go flat leaving you marooned and helpless by the wayside. This dictates the need for a supplementary motor and that really has to be an internal combustion engine. Ideally this emergency source should be powered from green fuel but let's be pragmatic, so long as we are talking of brief usage it doesn't really matter if its powered by bio ethanol or petrol (gas). This back-up motor can be quite small (say 20% of the main electric motive power) and in some cases could be serial in operation for simplicity and hence cost. You may not like the idea of tootling back home at 35 mph in the country but it's far, far better than twiddling your thumbs sitting by the roadside waiting for a rescue. We are laying the basic specifications for green motoring for an average domestic consumer but there is one more twist to this desirable vehicle. It must be 'plug-in' and would be charged from your own mains supply at home where you have installed PV solar panels and signed up to the Feed-in-Tariff scheme. At best you might be able to charge the batteries when it's sunny but with the FIT scheme that is not essential and with such a system not only would your transport be green but the fuel costs could be negligible. Such a vehicle would be scalable to cover many requirements, but maybe not the travelling salesman. |
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| Below we include links to the two main pioneers of production hybrid cars. By now there has been a considerable expansion of types and makes and there are many manufacturers who have developed models from small runabouts to commercial vehicles. If you fancy a particular make we suggest you go to that manufacturers' site or look at the link below. | |||||||||
| ASAP Motors, a US site, have a page 'Gas and Electric: Understanding Hybrid Cars' explaining hybrid vehicles and different types of hybrids. | |||||||||
| HybridCars.com is a web site dedicated to hybrid gas-electric vehicles, providing consumer information about cars, the technology, energy and the environment, with car reviews, interactive tools, news and user forums. Despite its' primary focus on hybrids it also deals with electric vehicles. | |||||||||
| The Honda Insight was a 1st generation hybrid car combining a petrol engine and electric motor to give high fuel efficiency, low emissions and good performance, aided by lightweight body with automatic recharging of the battery pack. Superseded by the 1.3l Insight IMA and 1.4l Civic IMA . |
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| The Toyota Prius, launched in Japan in 1997, is a mass-marketed hybrid vehicle, powered by a combination of batteries and petrol; the batteries are automatically recharged whilst the car is running. The latest generation Prius, launched in 2009, gives better performance and lower emissions. |
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Straight away, lets say
we aren't impressed with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
or its siblings, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG). They are, by definition, fossil fuels and thus release,
one way or another, sequestered greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. |
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| CH-IV International provides consultancy to LNG facility owners, operators and lenders to ensure that plants are developed, designed, constructed and operated safely. Note their name re-presents CH4 (methane). Their site is very informative and includes information on uses other than vehicular. | |||||||||
| Chive Fuels are suppliers of Liquefied and Compressed Natural Gas. It seems that LNG is their preferred fuel and they have developed a motorway network of filling stations. Their site is very informative. | |||||||||
CNG Now is a resource dedicated to educating the public about the merits of compressed natural gas as a means to a viable alternative fuel source for transportation in the US and elsewhere. |
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DriveLPG is a consumer guide to LPG Autogas in the UK. The site tells you where to find the nearest UK LPG filling station to you or on your journey, the location of filling stations in Europe and provides information about LPG. |
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gasfill have developed a small slow fill compressor for CNG that can operate at any home, office or factory, ideal for refuelling cars or light vans. Their site gives explanations of CNG and how it is used. |
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LPGMAP states it is the definitive source for finding LPG, autogas and bio diesel filling stations within the UK. They provide free sat nav downloads.
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myLPG.eu is a web site telling you where you can fill LPG in Europe and what the estimated price is for that country. There are locations of more than 18.000 LPG stations in 30 countries and an LPG calculator. |
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UKLPG, the trade association for the LPG industry in the UK, seeks to provide the voice
of the industry, supporting its members through promotion of benefits of LPG and of safe operations, developments and standards. |
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Biodiesel is virtually a direct
substitute for petro-diesel and of course its a genuinely renewable
form of energy being made from vegetable oils primarily. It can also be
made from animal fats and greases, but they can pose problems. The oils
can be reclaimed from cafes and restaurants. You can make your own, and
in the UK it is likely to be considerably cheaper than petro-diesel It
smells nice too; what a dream, but its real. A very wide range of car manufacturers supply cars rated as totally compatible with biodiesel but even older models have a reputation for being so too. The caveats we have identified in our researches are related to bio's ability to dissolve rubber and its cleanliness. The first property means that if your fuel runs through rubber pipes they must be replaced with plastic equivalents, an easy job. As for being clean, bio will remove dirt in the engine left by previous use of petro-diesel and deposit it in the filters. Solution: change the filters after the bio has been used for a while. To be sure, check what your vehicle needs, if anything. By now you'll gather we like it. A lot! For our Reference article on Bio-diesel, a Renewable Alternative to Petro-diesel for Motor Vehicles, click. Some relevant interesting links are given below. |
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| Biodiesel Filling Stations: a site aiming to provide a list of places in the UK where people can fill their diesels with Biodiesel. It will list only fuel outlets which supply Biodiesel suitable for vehicles without engine modification. There is also a list of compatible car types. Unfortunately the information is far from comprehensive and the site will need to mature a lot to be useful. | |||||||||
| The Biodiesel WWW Encyclopedia is a comprehensive resource for bio-diesel, providing wide ranging information on the subject. With over a thousand relevant web links on biodiesel related topics it is intended to be a one-stop resource of use to beginners and experts alike. The site is Indian in origin and specialises in the applications of Castor Oil. | |||||||||
D1 plc is a British company which recognises
the increasing demand for biodiesel and aims to become a global, sustainable,
low cost supplier of crude vegetable oil and biodiesel refiner. It has
developed plantation rights and established refinery operations in several
international regions, creating a supply chain from seed selection through
to the sale of biodiesel to end users. Currently it has four operations
centred in the UK, South Africa, Asia Pacific and India. There are also
projects in Madagascar and Saudi Arabia. |
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| The Energy Warehouse supply a biodiesel kit that converts used cooking oil into biodiesel which can be used to run vehicles, they use one to run the company's vans. | |||||||||
| Green Fuels Ltd was formed to bring affordable and sustainable biodiesel technology to the UK and European marketplace. They market decentralised plant for making biodiesel on a scale suitable for home, business or locality. They also provide training if its needed and they answered queries that we had, quickly and cogently. Visit their site and don't be afraid to ask. | |||||||||
| Low-Impact Living Initiative (LILI), a non-profit organisation helping to protect the environment by promoting sustainable alternatives. They run hands-on courses throughout the year including several on making your own biodiesel and there's even one on vegetable oil as a motor fuel. They can also supply and deliver biodiesel to your home. | |||||||||
| Pure Fuels states it is the first commercial producer of biodiesel in London, only making their fuel from waste vegetable cooking oil which they recycle it on site and sell via a forecourt style pump or deliver in bulk. | |||||||||
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| Ethanol and Methanol are viable vehicle
fuels as an alternative to petrol in internal combustion engines,
giving considerable global warming benefits if the fuel is derived biologically.
It is cleaner inside the engine as well as outside. Vehicles usually require
adaptation to convert from petrol to ethanol if the concentration exceeds
10% (manufacturers tend to be conservative and warranties usually prescribe that no more than 5% ethanol should be added, however, most cars seem to be OK on E10). The required engine modifications
to convert from petrol to ethanol are more extensive than those
to convert diesel to bio-diesel. There is evidence that several manufacturers
are working to producing vehicles which will run on an 85% proportion (E85)
and in the Americas and Canada, Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) can run on
E85 as well as gasoline (petrol). Where ethanol can be produced in abundance,
notably Brazil, the fuel is used widely. There was not much evidence of use
in the UK in early 2005 but government tax concessions, in that year, have meant that ethanol has crept into the mix by 2006 and, for a variety of reasons, should be used increasingly in future. By March 2006 we are reading in the UK about Saab 9-5 Bio-power vehicles which can run on E85 and even better a Ford Focus which can run on any mixture of Bio-ethanol and petrol. In East Anglia the supermarket Morrisons are selling E85 and there is evidence of activity in Somerset. For our Reference page on Ethanol and Methanol, click. The alcohols also have potential for the raw source in fuel cells which hold high promise for clean energy generation including vehicle transport. For our Reference page on Fuel Cells, click, and Fuel Cells are also discussed on the Alternative Energy page. |
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| The Californian Energy Commission is a useful source of information on several alternative fuels. There are links to ethanol and methanol. | |||||||||
| Make Your Own Fuel is a site created by the late Robert Warren, Boulder, Colorado. We don't recommend DIY but the site has lots of information. | |||||||||
| Sovereignty is a site run by Alistair McConnachie who publishes an independent journal on topical matters. Alistair is a journalist and campaigner with an activist streak. This link is to an article on ethanol developments in the UK but there are others on biofuels. | |||||||||
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| Electric road vehicles are usually
regarded as the ideal non-polluters but its not quite that simple.
They have an exemplary tailpipe emissions record, are efficient, near silent
and can have good driving characteristics but they need to carry rechargeable
batteries. We are leaving aside, for the moment, one-dimensional electric
track vehicles such as trams and trains which are umbilically tied to a
fixed locus. Now, these batteries are not really energy sources, they are
energy storers which introduces two possible problems. Firstly they are
heavy and bulky with very low energy densities and secondly, the
original source of energy, for recharging, has to be questioned, for if
its not renewable those vehicles will indirectly contribute to climate change.
There is a further drawback in their composition; if they are, for example,
lead or cadmium based there is a serious pollution problem in the making
if not properly disposed of at end of life, but that can be avoided (Li-ion
is at the sharp end in 2011). OK that's deliberately pessimistic to make a point, we don't have to assume that all electric vehicles will forever have the range and performance of milk floats. Fuel cells are the big hope; although they are charged with ultra bulky hydrogen it can be supplied in a liquid hydrocarbon compound and that way the density problem can be solved, theoretically. To be climate friendly the compound must be renewable (bio(m)ethanol for example), not petroleum based. Unfortunately in 2011 fuel cells still demand much research and development to be commercially viable in vehicles. In 2011, viable EVs are just appearing while Hybrids have already established a track record. |
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| The Battery University is the best reference site on batteries we have found. Although not especially aimed at EVs it gives relative energy densities and other useful relevant information. | |||||||||
| HybridCars.com is a web site dedicated to hybrid gas-electric vehicles, providing consumer information about cars, the technology, energy and the environment, with car reviews, interactive tools, news and user forums. Despite its' primary focus on hybrids it also deals with electric vehicles. | |||||||||
| Electric Vehicles UK (EVUK) is a campaigning site with a passion to promote zero emission vehicles. As it says about itself, it is "EVangelical" about ultimately clean vehicles, run on electricity. A busy but quaint, site. | |||||||||
| Goingreen supply 3 electric cars: the G-Wiz Automatic Electric Vehicle (AEV), the Mia and the Tazzari. They are in insurance Group 1, exempt from VED and the London Congestion Charge and qualify for free or discounted parking in some London areas. The G-Wiz is a remarkable small practical car for about-towns use, claimed to be the greenest, most energy efficient and cheapest car to run in Britain. The 3-seater Mia is aimed at simplifying urban and suburban driving. They import and sell the Italian designed and built Tazzari EM1 and Tazzari Speedster. | |||||||||
| Thunder Sky is a chinese firm claiming to be the leading manufacturer of Li-ion Rechargeable batteries in the world. Amongst the many applications they are used to power EVs from bikes and scooters through to buses. | |||||||||
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| We try to include anything that reduces transport pollution apart from the obvious road vehicles. Not many have come to our attention yet and none of them are aircraft unfortunately. | |||||||||
| Advanced Transport Systems (ATS) are realising an Urban Light Transport (ULTra) system of small electric cars in conjunction with partners Arup and AMEC. It is claimed that it will offer a new solution for transport in cities, airports and special applications worldwide. | |||||||||
| R. J. Corman Railpower Locomotives has developed a hybrid shunting engine in Vancouver, Canada that much is cheaper and less polluting. | |||||||||
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