admincars and the environment. Already there is a Facebook group based in Africa which is dedicated to the removal of Nascar from the earth (Imagine Nascar is not even in Africa, Europe or Asia, its just in the USA, a country not even on our continent)
Nascar lest you don’t know is the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing and it attracts a huge following in America, where it is the second most viewed professional sport.
While Nascar’s fans are passionate about the sport, so too are its detractors. The Facebook group for instance believes that if you care about the earth, you should hate Nascar. There is no doubt cars have a bad reputation when it comes to polluting the planet.
This group will crucify any man standing up for four wheels and an internal combustion engine.
However let’s face it, good or bad, the body on four wheels has brought about so much change in the last 100 years.
We celebrate individual mobility today because of the invention of the car. While the motor vehicle is a useful tool all over the world it is subjected to unwarranted penalty and persecution from Governments and governing bodies around the world. But do cars warrant this much attention and are they the worst polluters of the earth in terms of transportation.
Personally, I believe environmentalists are barking up the wrong tree as focus should be on planes and not cars, let me point out a few issues.
A Formula 1 car uses between 180 and 200 litres of fuel over a 300km race, and each F1 race consumes 3 tonnes of fuel.
A Boeing 747-400, on the other hand, carries 195 tonnes of fuel, it burns 30 tonnes to get to cruising altitude and at an average of 10 tonnes per hour consumes about 210 tonnes of fuel on a one-way trip from Harare to Washington, DC.
This just goes to show that cars are not necessarily the environment’s nemesis. For instance, buildings are responsible for at least 60 percent of the pollution in the world and the auto industry is only responsible for about 12 percent of the problem.
The planet pumps 186 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. Nature’s contribution is 180 billion tonnes (90 billion from the ocean and 90 billion from decaying plants, volcanoes and other natural activity).
The contribution from fuel for all modes of transport amounts to 0,003 percent of the total carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere which, according to 2006 United Nations report, is less than the harmful emissions that come from gasses emitted by livestock.
Car manufacturers are actually doing their best to reduce that 0,003 percent even further.
Its commendable that without exception each and every player in the car manufacturing business is focusing on greening their cars.
Ford, Lexus, Land Rover, BMW, VW and many other manufacturers are putting so much into going green.
We as motorists can also do our part by servicing and maintaining our vehicles regularly so that we don’t contribute to ruining the planet.
With Lexus and Toyota they have introduced hybrids. The all-new Lexus CT 200h is an upscale hybrid hatchback that offers more luxury and performance than the Prius.
Remember the Prius? For those of you who love movies, comedies especially, I remember watching this comedy called “The Other Guys” on the plane a few months ago . . . The one guy drove a Prius and his partner always teased him about that car saying one or two words which aren’t suitable for print lest I get fired.
The point is the Prius being a hybrid has been likened to organic food among other things. We all know that what’s usually good for your well-being isn’t usually fun right? In the same manner hybrids don’t have the same agility and rogue handling like non-hybrids. They are safe for the environment but boring to many.
Well, with mother earth suffering from all this contamination greening our meals and our cars is the way to go.
So the introduction of hybrids and greener cars like the Freelander2 from Land Rover, the new VW Passat CC, just to mention a few, is a positive development and step in the right direction.
Till next week. Ciao.
Fact D. Jeke is a motoring enthusiast who has attended auto shows, rallies and has written for various publications in the region for the last decade. She can be contacted via email on [email protected], Facebook: Torque with Fact Jeke
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