Reducing Your Car Co2 Emissions

If you can't do without your wheels, then at least take action to reduce CO2 emissions.

Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Thandie Newton all have one thing in common, apart from being famous: they ditched their petrol-guzzling celebmobiles in favour of a low carbon hybrid car, in their case, the Toyota Prius. Other stars, including George Clooney, are going all electric with models such as the Tesla Roadster.

While Hollywood celebs seem to be embracing the new breed of eco cars, the rest of us are rather trailing behind. A hybrid or electric car may be too expensive or not suit our day-to-day needs for various reasons, but there are still things we can look out for when buying a new car.

The most obvious route is to choose the smallest and most fuel-efficient vehicle possible. This will also save money in road tax and other running costs. Look for one with the lowest CO2 emissions of its class and which meets the new Euro IV standard.

Many new car makers are giving plenty of useful information to help you make your choice, such as eco labels that shows its CO2 figure and estimated annual running costs, and possibly even its life cycle assessment, which examines the whole impact of the vehicle from factory to final disposal.

Driving more environmentally friendly vehicles can help reduce emissions, improve people's health and save money.

Manufacturers now produce low-carbon electric, hybrid and dual-fuel vehicles. Some of these low carbon vehicles also have financial benefits such as lower tax, discounts on city congestion charge, cheaper fuel options and lower running and maintenance costs.

Electric vehicles produce no emissions - CO2 or toxic emissions - but need to be recharged often and can't travel long distances. But they are great in cities, on set routes or for short trips.

Hybrid vehicles switch between petrol (or diesel) and electricity. Because they use far less petrol than traditional vehicles, they produce much lower CO2 and other emissions. Most big car manufacturers are planning to introduce a hybrid model in the next few years.

LPG vehicles run mainly on LPG (liquid petroleum gas), which produces much lower emissions - about 10% to 15% less CO2, 75% less carbon monoxide and 85% less hydrocarbons - and is much cheaper than unleaded petrol. These aren't the only options. More vehicles are being produced that emit less CO2 and other pollutants. Specialist magazines, websites and Government bodies will have useful comparison data.

ECO-DRIVING

The way you drive your car also has an impact on the environment. But if you're eco-savvy, emissions and fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 25%.

Drive off straight away rather than leaving the engine to warm up.
When the engine is cold, journeys of less than 2 miles pollute by up to 60% more per mile than a hot engine.
Use higher gears as soon as traffic conditions allow. Minimum emissions happen between 40-60 miles per hour and increase when you drive faster.
Regular maintenance will reduce emissions.
Restarting the engine uses less energy than ten seconds of idling, so switch off if in a long queue.
Hard acceleration and sharp breaking use more fuel as well as being more dangerous.
Plan ahead: choose quiet routes, combine trips and car share.
Don't carry unnecessary weight on the roof or in the boot.
Make sure your tyres are inflated to the right pressure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5%.
Cut back on onboard electrical devices and air conditioning to reduce fuel consumption.


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