Green is the in color of the moment – we all want to be ecologically prudent, installing efficient boilers, recycling our waste, turning off our low power light bulbs and now also switching to green cars in increasing numbers.
A new era is starting with a very green conscious government taking over and incentives being offered to the motor manufacturers to develop green technologies – this goes way beyond the much criticized and talked about bail out of Detroit.
Practical alternatives at the moment are the petrol/electric hybrid and the economical versions of mainstream cars which manufacturers seem to be bringing out every day, the best example being the Green Car of the Year which is the VW Jetta TDI. The VW is a good example of making use of modern techniques to reduce emissions and produce over 50 MPG while retaining reasonable performance in a 5 seat sedan body. Hybrid technology is used in differing ways in the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic, but both generate their own electric power using energy that would otherwise be wasted.
All these cars however, still use fossil fuel in whatever quantity and still produce harmful emissions albeit in smaller doses. The goal has to be to stop our reliance on, and production of, these substances. The electric car has been variously touted as the answer but it is seriously restricted by the available battery technology which requires a recharge time of several hours and a fairly short range between top ups, making this technology viable only for relatively short journeys.
Honda’s FCX Clarity, which is on sale in California at the moment (sorry Kansas Honda lovers….no fuel cell cars yet), is really where its at – its hydrogen fuel cell produces only water as a by product and no harmful pollutants but where is the refuelling network that is going to be needed?
That too is a question for government is it not?
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