Green Transportation - Travel

Pros and Cons of Continuing to Drive an Old Car

Whether it's for emotional, economic, or practical reasons, there are pros and cons to continuing to drive your old car. Let's take a look at some of them. Pros 1. Landfills - If you continue to drive your old car, you will prevent the additional cluttering of the landfill. In other words, the longer you drive it, the longer it stays out of the junk yard or landfill. 2. No car payment - You won't have to make a car payment if you keep driving your old car. Once the loan is paid off (if you had one), you are over the hurdle and are no longer paying for something that is depreciating. And, as noted below, repairs rarely cost as much as a car payment. 3. Familiarity - There is something to be said for driving a car with which you are familiar. You know the blind spots, the quirks, and how best to maintain it. Being familiar with your car can make your driving safer. Cons 1. Repairs - Repairs are probably the first thing people think of when they consider various reasons not to drive an old car. A simple formula can help in this regard. Calculate how much you would pay for a ...

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Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) – An Explanation

Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS) is the official name of what has come to be known as the "Cash for Clunkers" program. The program was funded by the federal government. Its objective was to boost auto sales and benefit the environment. This successful program went from July 2009 through August 2009. Here is how it worked. The owner of a gas-guzzling "clunker" could, if said clunker met certain criteria, trade it in for a newer, more fuel-efficient car. The car owner received a cash credit to put toward the new car. Of course, participating car dealerships would take quite an economic loss if they simply traded new cars for old ones. Thus, the government reimbursed the dealerships with money from the economic stimulus. To qualify, an old car and the owner had to meet the following criteria: * Have gas mileage of 18 miles to the gallon or less (there are exceptions to this for large trucks and other large vehicles) * Be less than 25 years old * In a condition that is drivable * Proof of insurance that covers the entire year * Proof of registration that covers at least the last full year * The owner must have a clear title (no liens and/or ...

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Ireland Testing Electric Vehicles

Recently, it has been announced that Ireland will be a testing ground for electric vehicles. This is for the purpose getting more motorists to change over to them from traditional vehicles. The government in Ireland has even joined forces with a couple of car companies along with the local electricity provider ESB. Renault and Nissan will provide the cars. The Irish Government will give a subsidy of €5,000 to each owner as the vehicle is bought. The owners will not have to pay any registration taxes either. The Leaf from Nissan will be the first of the cars released under this plan. The price of the Leaf will be €29,995 and was released in 2010 in May. This price even includes the batteries. The Fluence from Renault will be released in 2012 in a model that is electric. These two vehicles can go for 150km with one charge. The cost of running these electric vehicles are only $.03 per mile as opposed to the $.15 per mile for the diesel or petrol the owner starts to break even with just 12,000km a year which is about 30km a day. The possible savings are huge when in Ireland the average car travels about ...

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Cars Powered by Solar Energy

The cars powered by solar are just electric cars that do not need to be plugged in to be charged.  Why? They have solar panels installed on the top of them to generate power. These panels collect the sun's energy and transform it into electricity to power the cars.  At present time these cars cannot go far on their solar power. When the panels collect the sun's energy, they will then send the energy directly to the batteries for whatever power the car needs to drive down the road right then.  The excess power is stored to be used as needed. Right now the batteries will not store that much extra electricity, so these cars can only operate in a limited range. So right now there is a lot of room for improvement on these cars.  They are not as effective as they should be yet.  These cars are very promising for the future as the solar technology improves.  Solar cars can be our answer to using so many fossil fuels and the carbon footprint we are leaving at present time. Traditional vehicles are among the top sources for the greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere. In fact they are only beat ...

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Alternative Fuel – Biodiesel

There are many good reasons why biodiesel is a good fuel alternative to gasoline. Primarily, it is safer to the environment because it completely comes from renewable sources, is non-toxic, burns clean, and is totally biodegradable.  Secondly, it is a renewable fuel and can easily be sourced out from natural, safe resources such as vegetable oils, soybean oils, canola oils, recycled cooking oils, sunflower oils, and animal fats. Used as an alternative fuel, biodiesel has more benefits compared to petroleum.  Its engine performance is either equal or even better than that of petroleum and it is readily available for people's automobile use as it can be found in around 800 locations around the United States with 600 fleets currently using biodiesel blends.  In 2005, an estimated 75 million gallons of biodiesel were sold, according a website of the US Environmental Protection Act. Because of its safety and environmental-friendly components, biodiesel passed the standards of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and has subsequently been tested for all other environmental safety standard requirements by the government and passed them all compared to other alternative fuels which had some harmful components.  As an alternative fuel, biodiesel also cuts greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by over ...

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