bemoreeco

The team at BBCGreen have carried out some investigation on the myths surrounding Green cars.  My wife is pushing me to replace our current car with a more Eco-Friendly one, but I am not to sure what is the best path to take. Hopefully this 5 part series we have put togther about the myths of buying a Green Car will help. Below is green car myth number 4.

Manufacturing matters more than mpg - The usually infallible green mantra ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ stumbles when it comes to cars. Refurbishing old vehicles and giving them a long life isn’t always the greenest solution – not if they’re thirsty and dirty. The manufacture and recycling of a modern car accounts for 10–15 per cent of its lifecycle energy consumption – the rest is in driving it.

It follows that the biggest win is to cut the fuel used as you drive – and modern cars are more economical than old ones. Only drive an old car if you clock up very few miles a year.

As with local food, local manufacture has an effect too. BBC Top Gear Magazine calculated that the CO2 emissions of the ship that brings a hybrid car from Japan can negate the fuel savings from a whole year’s driving. But many of the other Japanese-badged cars on sale here are actually made in British factories, so research where a potential purchase comes from.

 

BeMoreEco will be publishing a new myths each Monday over the 4 week so come back .