What's the catch?

In the wake of record high gasoline prices in 2008, the automakers will introduce more hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles in 2009 than any other year. Before jumping on the bandwagon, know the pros and cons.

Gas/Electric Hybrids

Hybrids have gasoline engines with electric motors. The electric motors take over during city driving, allowing the gasoline engine to run less. Select hybrids also turn off cylinders not in use to reduce fuel consumption. Less gasoline is a definite pro.

Another pro is the limited carbon emissions. By burning less gasoline, the vehicles produce far less carbon dioxide than gasoline-only vehicles.

Cons include failure to meet mileage expectations and a very large price tag at the dealer. This is a double whammy: You will pay more for the car thinking it will save more money on gas, only to find out you are spending more on gasoline than originally promised.

Diesels

Diesels have gotten a "dirty" reputation from their European makers failure to met US emissions standards. As of 2008, diesels only represented four per cent of the cars on American roads. "Why?" is a good question. They routinely get 25 to 35 per cent better mileage than gasoline vehicles.

European auto manufacturers have successfully met the US emission standards. Research into bio-fuels are now producing diesel from plant and crop based oils. Researchers say they are only a few years from a bio-diesel using chicken fat. Be on the look out for more diesel cars.

Ethanol

Many models are designed to run on ethanol blended gasoline, since it burns cleaner and increases mileage, definite pro. Con for ethanol is it takes more energy to produce than it produces when it burns.

Ethanol was originally made of corn. Burning it in cars drove the food corn price through the roof. Research into substituting switchgrass and other cellulosic biomasses are not yet feasible.

Plug-in Electrics

The majority of auto manufacturers have been testing the technology of all electric cars, with Ford and Chevrolet producing concept cars. Saturn's 2010 model is the first of the production models to be offered for public sale. A complete departure from gasoline means minimal carbon emissions, inarguable pro.

The cons include expensive batteries and long battery charging times. One long term, far-reaching con is the possibility of overloading power grids. Arguers for all-electrics claim computers can modulate charge times for off-peak hours. They are not concerned with driver need times in this argument.

Hydrogen

As one of the best alternatives to gasoline engines, hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are hitting the road in California. $20 worth of hydrogen can take a driver 270 miles with its 68 mpg estimate. It only emission: Water vapor. Big pros.

Cons: Very few fueling stations, fuel-cell costs, hydrogen handling regulations and safety, and the costs of hydrogen production.

Other

India is trying an air car. BMW is researching steam power over a century after steam cars went out of production. Hydraulics researchers are making headway in making heavyweight commercial vehicles more fuel efficient in heavy traffic.

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Your car's carbon footprint=Big Foot?

You recycle. You conserve water. You adjust your thermostat. You get in your car and go to work. There are five main areas where you can lower your car's carbon footprint: Shopping, errands, work, maintenance and driving. It starts with you.

If the number one way to reduce your impact on global warming was to drive less, how many excuses could you supply why you cannot drive less? How about some practical tips to help you not only drive less, but reduce your emissions when you have to drive?

Even if you cannot afford to trade your car for a more efficient, electric or hybrid model, you can do a lot to reduce the impact your vehicle has on the environment.

Shopping

1. Shop for frozen and dry groceries and household supplies once per month. Limit shopping for perishables to once per week, and then only on your way home from somewhere else. Save gas and money by planning ahead.

2. Shop for clothing, shoes, items for children, gifts and other items quarterly or bimonthly. These non-essentials should be planned to avoid prolonged or frequent driving.

3. Shop locally. This is more than going to the neighborhood market. Buy items produced locally as well. You have direct control over pollution caused by transporting goods over very long distances to get to you.

Errands

1. Go to the bank, post office, doctor's office and pharmacy on the same day. By plotting your itinerary to include at least three stops, you save gasoline, money and time while reducing your carbon emissions by as much as 70%.

2. Go with a friend. While not as efficient as carpooling, you can choose who has the most efficient vehicle and completely eliminate the emissions from the other. Best practice is to go everywhere with at least two other people.

3. Go on time. Schedule your errands so you will not rush. This leads to more considerate driving, better braking and less stress.

Work

1. Telecommute. Many companies offer choices in telecommuting. More offices are closing an additional day each week to save on overhead. Work from home one day, or more, per week.

2. Carpool. It is cool to carpool. Schedule meetings during your commute. Again, choose the most efficient car to get you and your colleagues to work on time.

3. Transfer. If you are commuting more than fifteen miles to work, consider a position closer to your home. When possible, work within walking distance of your home.

4. Move. If you are commuting more than fifty miles to work, you are losing money, time and breathable air. If you cannot move, transfer to a position closer to home.

5. Detour. If your commute is spent sitting in traffic, find a new route to work. If there is only one way, change your work hours to avoid standstills.

Grab ten more tips on how to reduce your car's impact on global warming.

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Pollution Prevention: Individual Effort

We've all heard about global warming and climate change and the Kyoto Accord, but have you seriously considered how your pollution is affecting the Earth? Over the next week, we will focus on some serious issues and some very simple steps each one of us can take to preserve the planet for our great-grandchildren and beyond.

What is the role of pollution prevention in addressing climate change?

CO2 and water vapor are the largest contributors to the greenhouse effect that regulates the Earth's temperature. The atmospheric blanket around the Earth absorbs the radiant energy released after absorption of the sun's rays. Pollution of the atmosphere directly impacts the temperature control of Earth.

Increased CO2 emissions create an extra layer of blanketing in the atmosphere. This extra warming leads to climate change in the forms of warmer oceans, melting ice caps and glaciers, more pronounced flooding and droughts, agricultural shifts in fertility, human migration and increased global temperature.

Human industrialization over the last 200 years has increased the CO2 in the atmosphere to 30% above the natural level of increase that should have occurred after the last ice age. The planet cannot compensate for this large a fluctuation in its natural chemistry.

The natural evolution of Earth would see increased growth of forests after volcanic activity, sinking and rising of islands and a gradual encroachment of the oceans onto the major land masses over the course of five to ten centuries. With the human acceleration of the warming process, these events are due to occur in a smaller time window.

At current levels of consumption and pollution this window will shrink to less than two hundred years. Pollution prevention is necessary to slow this progression to nominally increased levels rather than the drastically increased current level.

Over 50% of CO2 emissions are resultant from transportation and domestic energy use. Great strides toward industrial reduction of CO2 emissions are laudable, but only a small portion of the effort that needs to be implemented. Individual efforts to conserve energy and reduce transportation dependency are of paramount importance.

In the absence of such pollution reduction, the planetary temperature will continue to rise. As the oceans warm, they will expand further, engulfing low lying, industrializing nations and island communities. The change in the water to land mass ratio will affect the amount of water vapor in the air through accelerated evaporation of the oceans.

Droughts and floods will be more pronounced in areas prone to such weather conditions. This dual effect will compromise the fertility of agricultural land. Further, refugees from such areas will displace land currently regulated to agriculture and reduce current forestation levels for the development of housing.

Finite growth patterns mean that the forests cannot rebuild within the time frame necessary to perform their role in the reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere. Alternative solutions, such as the use of recycled steel, for housing construction must be employed to combat the decimation of the forests.

Deforestation will reduce the CO2 removed from the atmosphere. This completed cycle from increasing CO2 to reducing CO2 consumption will change the face of the Earth irrevocably. The hostile environment created will not be conducive to human existence and will hasten the next ice age.

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