Archive for transport
Less cars in towns with car sharing systems
Posted by: on December 15, 2008 in Tags: Sustainable development, transport
Let’s face it, if you live in a large urban area with a decent public transportation system, you don’t really need that much to own a car. Indeed, renting one when you need one would satisfy you.
This is why car sharing systems are beginning to appear all around the world and are due to have a bright future as they propose to get rid of a personal car and all the related hassle.
One of the best examples of this is Car2go, launched in October in the German city of Ulm by the local carmaker Daimler. Continue reading »
An idea of green bailout for The Big Three
Posted by: on December 9, 2008 in Tags: Efficiency, Energy, thoughts, transport
The three large US automakers are facing huge problems. Meanwhile, many people think their cars would be able to sell better if US cars had better mileage.
While driving I had an idea that very topic: increasing the mileage to enable it to reach 50 MPG by 2010 would be great. This would be much better than 35 MPG in 2020 as some think.
Seems like science fiction ? Not so, as the car I drive - A Citroën C2 - already gets 4.5 liters for 100 kilometers (more than 50 miles per gallon). Continue reading »
The B Zero, a future great electric car
Posted by: on October 17, 2008 in Tags: Efficiency, Energy, transport
At the Paris Motor Show, the French industrial company Bolloré and the famous Italian car designer Pininfarina presented a car they will release next year, the B 0.
All electric and coming with brand new lithium polymer battery, the B0 (or B Zero) has a range of 250 kilometers (155 miles), a top speed of 130 kilometers per hour (80 mph).
Dubbed the best-looking small car by the Car Tech blog, this is typically the kind of car we would like to drive when the train, the bus or the bike can’t be used. Continue reading »
All cars hybrid by 2020 ?
Posted by: on August 21, 2008 in Tags: Energy, Sustainable development, transport
According to a study carried out by IBM’s Institute for Business Value - Automotive 2020: Clarity Beyond the Chaos - and quoted by EcoGeek, all cars may be hybrid by 2020.
This is reinforced by the fact that Toyota, the leading car maker and producer of the global success Prius (pictured left), has previously stated that all its models will be hybrid by this date.
But this study also forecasts several major changes such as decreasing carbon dioxide emissions per unit and the increased use of biofuels. Continue reading »
After last week’s article on the decreasing demand of SUV in the United States, my dad sent me an article mentioning a Chinese plan on taxing more large cars.
Even if this is not due to contribute much to the country’s objectives on cutting pollution and fossil fuel energy consumption, it is always an additional sign of the political will of China in reducing pollution.
The adopted system there is quite similar to the one adopted in France, but it won’t have the same results because of the lack of depth of the initiative. Continue reading »
The end of the large cars era in the United States
Posted by: on August 14, 2008 in Tags: Energy, transport, USA
One of my favorite US environmental blog - The Daily Green - published today an interesting article with a lot of data on how Americans drive less and shift to smaller cars.
With as much as 800,000 less barrels per day consumed in the first half of the year and decreasing miles driven for eight months in the row, the phenomenon is important.
US car makers are adjusting their production and stop manufacturing large cars to make smaller efficient ones. All this is very good news. Continue reading »
Better Place : an interesting project of hybrid cars
Posted by: on July 29, 2008 in Tags: Energy, renewables, transport
Even if oil prices decreased during the last weeks - as I write these lines they are around $120 at the NYMEX - there is no doubt they will soar again and reach $200 in the very next months.
Since our transportation habits are depending so much on this energy source, it is high time for our societies to change and shift to hybrid or full electric cars.
An Israeli investor, Shai Agassi, is banking on the latter with his project Better Place that may become a reality in his country but also in the UK, Portugal and Denmark. Continue reading »
The French tax system for the promotion of efficient cars
Posted by: on July 17, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, France, transport
The French Grenelle de l’Environnement may not be as advanced as it should be, but one of its first part is already in place since January 1st. It is a huge success.
Since this date, if you buy a car in France you may be the subject of a price reduction or an additional tax on your car, depending on its carbon dioxide emissions, and thus its mileage.
This mechanism was created by the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Energy to promote the replacement of older cars by new efficient ones. Continue reading »
How I avoided 200 kgs of CO2 emissions in ten days
Posted by: on July 4, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, Personal, transport
Two weeks ago I took some vacations and visited my family near Nancy. Additionally, I went to the renewable energies fair in Paris. It was also the opportunity for me to have a most interesting meeting.
All this brought me to travel up to 1,600 kilometers (approx. 1,000 miles). By choosing the train instead of my Toyota Yaris, I avoided the emissions of up to 208 kilograms of carbon dioxide.
With this travel, I am reaching a total reduction of 800 kilograms of CO2 this year. I plan to reach a minimum of a thousand five hundred kilograms in 2008. Continue reading »
Videoconferencing, a simple solution to climate change
Posted by: on June 23, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, Sustainable development, transport
At a time where oil is more and more expensive, companies are seeing their transport bills increase and are looking for alternatives to send their executives traveling to the other side of the world.
Videoconferencing is according to the WWF one as it enable people to talk to each other when being thousands of miles away. The Internet now has a bandwidth high enough to allow this.
The global conservation organization provides interesting data on the large potential as well as the many advantages of this solution. Continue reading »
