It definitely makes more sense from a green perspective to stay your old car running and well-maintained as long as you can‚ especially if it’s getting such good mileage. Although they are prone to breaking down on the road and being towed by roadside assistance, there are significant environmental costs to both manufacturing a brand new automobile and adding your old car to the ever-growing collective dumpsite.
A 2004 analysis by Toyota found that the maximum amount as 28 percent of the carbonic acid gas emissions generated during the lifecycle of a typical gasoline-powered car, while the remaining emissions occur during driving once its new owner takes possession, can occur during its manufacture and its transportation to the dealer.
Regardless of which conclusion is closer to the reality, your current car has already passed its manufacture and transport stage, so going forward the relevant comparison has only to try to to with its remaining footprint against that of a brand new car’s manufacture/transport and driver’s footprint‚ to not mention the environmental impact of either eliminating your old car or selling it to a brand new owner who will still drive it. There are environmental impacts, too, whether or not your old car is junked, dismantled, and sold for parts.
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And don’t forget that the new hybrids even have a way larger environmental impact in their manufacture, compared to non-hybrids‚ despite lower emissions and better gas mileage. The batteries that store energy for the drive train are not any friend to the environment‚ and having two engines under one hood increases manufacturing emissions. And all-electric vehicles are only emission-free if the outlet providing the juice is connected to a renewable energy source, not a coal-burning power station, as is more likely.
If you would like to assess your current car’s fuel efficiency or emissions, there are many services available online. The govt website FuelEconomy.gov provides fuel efficiency stats for many different vehicles dating back to 1985. Websites TrackYourGasMileage.com and MPGTune.com can facilitate your track your mileage and supply ongoing tips to enhance fuel efficiency for your specific make and model vehicle. MyMileMarker.com takes it a step further, making projections about annual mileage, fuel costs and fuel efficiency supported your driving habits. You’ll keep track of your car‚Äôs carbon footprint with the new “Greenmeter App” from Hunter Research and Technologies if you have got an iPhone. The program uses numerous variables to create its calculations on the go as you drive, including climatic conditions, cost of fuel, vehicle weight, and more.
If you just must change your vehicle, be it for fuel efficiency or the other reason, one option is to easily buy a second-hand car that gets better fuel consumption rate than your existing one. There’s much to be said, from many environmental vantage points, about postponing replacement purchases of anything, not just cars, to stay what’s already made out of the waste stream and to delay the extra environmental costs of creating something new.