Sunday, November 18, 2007

Courtesy of Flickr member

Have you ever wondered how green your car is? Well now you can find out. The UK created a website that calculates the level of CO2 that goes into the atmosphere.

The calculator is really easy to use. All you do is select your manufacturer, model number, description, transmission type and fuel type. Once you insert the numbers the CO2 level is automatically calculated.

Transportation adds up to about a quarter of UK carbon emissions, which is a 47 percent increase since 1980, according to the website. Reducing carbon emissions is a top priority because of the increasing environmental and health risks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also estimated that 160 billion euros are spent per year to reduce air pollution from transportation. WHO also states that pollution lowers life expectancy by approximately nine months.

The website informs people about green car technologies, such as electric, hybrid, biofuel, fuel cells, natural gas, diesel, and LPG vehicles.

I haven’t touched on fuel cells in the past. Fuel cells electrochemically convert energy. Fuel cells work by catalysis, which means that the electrons and protons of the reactant fuel are separated. This separation forces electrons to travel through a circuit which creates electrical power. There are approximately 20 different types of fuel cells, which are all used to power different machines. Hydrogen fuel cells are used to power vehicles and they create no greenhouse gases or smog.

For more information on fuel cells you can check out this website.

I also haven’t touched much on LPG vehicles. LPG stands for liquefied petroleum gas.

“Using LPG can cut your fuel bills by around 50 percent,” according to theLPG Vehicles website.

You can get your car converted into an LPG vehicle in Europe at the locations listed here

To learn more about LPG vehicles, check out this website for the LP Gas Association.

Some tips that I learned on how to make your life even greener are the following: Carpool with someone, recycle your car or remodel your car into an eco-friendly vehicle.

Check out this website to learn about how you can recycle your car.

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