Energy Efficient Transportation
Perhaps the best thing to do to protect the environment is to not drive. The second best thing may be to drive the cleanest, greenest vehicle possible.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) makes it easy for consumers to buy the greenest cars, vans and trucks by rating the environmental performance of every vehicle on the market. The Green Score is derived by combining fuel economy and emission levels. They publish lists of the "Greenest" and "Meanest" vehicles.
The car with the top green score for 2004 was the Honda Civic GX, operating on compressed natural gas. (It is not currently available in Canada.) Next on the list is Honda's two-seat Insight, a gas-electric hybrid. Toyota's Prius hybrid, ranked third, is a mid-sized sedan, which gets an amazing 71 miles per gallon (4L/100k) in the city-double the mileage of the average mid-sized sedan. The 2004 Prius is 15 percent more efficient than the previous year's model.
Hybrid vehicles have their best gas mileage in the city because they run partially on energy produced from the friction of their breaking system in stop and go traffic. Honda's Civic Hybrid ranks number four.
Currently, sales of the greenest vehicles, such as gas-electric hybrids, are still quite small. Saskatoon's Toyota dealer says that they have sold six of the Prius hybrids in Saskatoon. Sales of Honda's hybrid models are similar.
Toyota's Echo, a non-hybrid, ranks number five, with the Nissan Sentra and Honda Civic HX tied for sixth position. The Mazda 3 ranks seventh. Tied for eighth position are the Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra, Scion xA, and Honda Civic.
ACEEE's guide also shows that protecting the environment is economical. If new car and light truck buyers chose the most efficient vehicles in each size class, the US would slash its 2004 fleet's gasoline use by 18 percent, reducing gasoline purchases by $3.2 billion and saving the average buyer $195 a year while significantly cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
The organization points out that a vehicle's "greenness" depends not only on its design, but also on how it is used. Any car is greener when it's carrying two or more people rather than one.
It's greenest of all if left at home when it is possible to walk, cycle or travel by bus, or to telecommute. So consider opportunities to reduce car use when practical, by walking or biking for short trips, ridesharing, and combining several errands into one trip. Another option is to choose where you live according to its proximity to work, school, or transit-what planners call location efficiency. This is a key to reducing the need to drive at all.