WWF Canada's Goal of 600,000 EVs by 2020

WWF-Canada has launched an initiative designed to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Their campaign is called Transportation rEVolution, this program aimed at reducing Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation by encouraging the use of electric vehicles (EVs). To achieve this objective, WWF aims to have 600,000 electric vehicles in Canada by 2020.

According to a recent Environics study commissioned by WWF-Canada, almost three quarters (73 percent) of Canadians support government actions to promote electric cars, however, many do not understand the environmental value of driving EVs.

Toronto Greenhouse - Green Cars Event

On July 24, 2012,Toronto Greenhouse will present a Green Cars event in Toronto, Ontario. This event will answer questions like: How sustainable is your vehicle? Should everyone drive electric? Is fuel efficiency the answer? The discussion will be focused on green cars and will include representatives from General Motors, smart Canada (Mercedes-Benz) and Plug'nDrive Ontario.

GM CEO Calls for Gas Tax Rather than a Fuel Efficiency Mandate

In a June 2011 interview in Detroit News, General Motors CEO Dan Akerson said his company and his industry would be helped, not hurt, if consumers paid higher gas taxes. He suggested that a $1 a gallon increase in the gas tax is a way to encourage buyers to purchase more fuel efficient cars.

The current federal gas tax is only 18.4 cents a gallon, but Akerson said that he would not be opposed to an immediate 50-cent-a-gallon increase to take advantage of recent declines in gas prices. Although he concedes that this would probably make some of his Republican friends "puke," it would do more to help the environment than a federal government mandate of of 60 MPG.

Paul Ballew, chief economist at insurer Nationwide who was formerly a director of sales analysis at GM, said it's always been clear within the auto industry that given the choice between tougher fuel economy standards and higher gas prices, the latter is a better deal for the automakers.

However, it is very unlikely that Republican lawmakers would support such a move. "They're not going to get it though, because that would take a lot of sanity in Washington and we're not going to see that," Ballew said.

© 2011, Richard Matthews. All rights reserved.

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World Car Free Day and Fossil Fuel Powered Cars

Every September 22, people celebrate World Car Free Day in defiance of our car dominated society. Fossil fuel powered cars are one of the biggest contributors to global warming causing greenhouse gases (GHGs) including carbon dioxide (CO2). 

According to a 2004 study by Environmental Defense called, Global Warming on the Road [PDF], US automobiles and light trucks are responsible for nearly half of all GHGs emitted by automobiles globally.

The US has only five percent of the world's population and thirty percent of the world's automobiles, accounting for forty eight percent of the world's automotive CO2 emissions. Compared to much of the rest of the world, American cars are driven farther, have lower fuel economy standards, and burn fuel with higher levels of carbon. Cars and trucks contribute around one quarter of all global warming causing emissions and US automobiles emit more than 1/5 of the nation's total CO2 emissions.

People in the US are joining people around the world to push governments to help create permanent change to benefit and encourage pedestrians and cyclists.
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GM Breakthrough Reduces Emissions

A technological breakthrough from General Motors (GM) could significantly reduce climate change causing emissions. In July, GM announced what is known as an HFO, a climate-friendly refrigerant to replace HFCs, the super greenhouse gas currently used in auto air conditioning. GM is the first company in the world to announce the replacement of HFCs with HFOs.

This refrigerant was produced for GM by Honeywell and is the culmination of more than a decade of cooperation among private industry, government, and standard-setting organizations. Use of the new refrigerant will start in the US in 2013, with the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands.

Eliminating super greenhouse gases is essential to climate protection. In the US, HFC super greenhouse gases are the fastest growing climate emissions. HFCs in the US are expected to grow more than 140% by 2020 compared to 4% growth for all US climate emissions.

Dr. Stephen O. Andersen, Co-Chair of the Montreal Protocol ozone treaty’s Economic Assessment Panel (TEAP) said, “TEAP estimates that one-third of the most damaging high-GWP greenhouse gases known as HFCs are being used in motor vehicle air conditioning and that motivated industry can make a complete transition to environmentally-superior technology in 7 years or less.”

The newly developed HFO refrigerants have a global warming potential of just 4 compared to over 1,400 for the current HFC refrigerant (HFC-134a). According to Honeywell, GM’s new breakthrough technology remains in the atmosphere for just 11 days. Honeywell calculates that the low global warming potential (GWP) and the short lifetime of its HFO achieve a 99.7 percent improvement in the climate impact over the HFC refrigerant.

Regulations in Europe and California will phase out auto air conditioning refrigerants with GWPs higher than 150 between 2011 and 2017. In the US, the improved environmental performance of the new refrigerant helps car makers achieve the 40 percent improvement in average vehicle fuel economy required by 2016. There is also a pending petition before the EPA to remove HFC-134a from the list of acceptable motor vehicle air conditioning refrigerants.

A proposal to phase down HFCs in the US is part of the proposed climate bill or it could be integrated into oil spill legislation which is at the top of the Senate's to-do list once the summer recess is over. The proposal is one of the few provisions with bipartisan support.

Proposals also are pending under the Montreal Protocol to completely phase out the use of all high-GWP HFCs. The proposals will be addressed at the treaty’s annual meeting in November. Last year, 41 Parties endorsed a declaration by two small island States to elimate HFCs. This year a number of countries including the United States, Canada and Mexico called for the elimination of high-GWP HFCs.

Phasing out high-GWP HFCs under the Montreal Protocol will provide climate mitigation of 5 to 8 billion tons of CO2-equivalent per year, for a cumulative total of 88 to 145 billion tons of CO2-equivalent by 2050.

Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) said, “This is the single biggest climate opportunity anywhere in the world this year. An aggressive campaign to promote the use of the new HFO at an affordable price would add momentum to the effort to phase out HFCs under the Montreal Protocol. This would virtually eliminate one of the six greenhouse gases in the Kyoto Protocol basket.”

“GM should be congratulated for leading the way with an innovative refrigerant that can drastically cut the use of super greenhouse gases in the auto air conditioning sector...GM’s announcement sends a powerful signal to other car companies that it’s time to abandon unsustainable super greenhouse gases and move to next generation climate-friendly technology that also delivers high energy efficiency and reliable service,” Zaelke said.

Despite its decades long fall from grace and a near death experience, GM's technological breakthrough represents a major step forward in the war against climate change.
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Jaguar XJ: A Greener Luxury Car

Jaguar, a segment of Tata Motors, has been honored with a prestigious Green Award in the luxury car segment. The Jaguar XJ earned the award due to its fuel efficient, low emission power plant and recycled aluminum body.

The XJ is equipped with a 275PS 3.0-litre AJ-V6D Gen III turbodiesel engine that gets 40 mpg. That is the same fuel efficiency as a gas powered Smart subcompact car. Although the car can go from 0-60mph in an impressive 6.0 secs, it has CO2 emissions of only 184g/km and NOx emissions of 0.142g/km.

Geoff Cousins, managing director of Jaguar UK said, "Environmental considerations are increasingly important to car buyers. By taking a lifecycle approach to the new XJ we have minimised the amount of materials used, we use recycled material and low-energy manufacturing processes, as well as making the vehicle easy to recycle at the end of its life."

Jaguar's aluminium body carries about 50 percent recycled material and the company plans to increase that figure to 75 percent. This feature will save three tons of CO2 per vehicle.

For its niche, the XJ is a greener car, but the emphasis is on luxury, performance and impressive styling.
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