Archive for the ‘Environmental Protection’ Category

Fuel Efficiency doesn’t just reduce the cost of operating a vehicle. It can also significantly reduce the impact that operating a vehicle has on the environment.

Here are two areas where the impact reduction can come from.
1) The vehicle burns less fuel and therefore emits less CO2.
2) The vehicle burns less fuel and therefore the environmental impact of supplying that fuel is reduced. That means that less oil needs to be extracted from the ground, refined, and transported to distribution centers (gas stations).

Once again, conservation is not only good for pocket books, but also for the environment.

Here is a list of the top 10 most fuel efficient vehicles on the market… according to Transport Canada.

TOYOTA PRIUS
HONDA CIVIC HYBRID
HONDA INSIGHT/EX
FORD FUSION HYBRID
SMART FORTWO CABRIOLET/COUPE
LEXUS HS 250h
TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID
AUDI A3 TDI WAGON
NISSAN ALTIMA HYBRID
VOLKSWAGEN GOLF TDI CLEAN DIESEL/GOLF WAGON TDI CLEAN DIESEL

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• What’s The Payback Time, Based On Fuel Savings, For Hybrid Cars? (ridelust.com)
• Mother Earth News Names Best Green Cars for 2010 (prweb.com)

In my last post I wrote about the controversy surround wind turbines. Here are a couple of links to news stories about them.

The first story is about the negative effects wind turbines can have, especially when they are placed extremely close to people’s homes.

http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/ontario/video/index.html?releaseID=1100636061

The second story has to do with Toronto Hydro’s plans to build a wind farm off of the shores of the Scarborough Bluffs in Lake Ontario.

http://www.globaltv.com/globaltv/ontario/video/index.html?releaseID=1101943611

Both are very interesting and I encourage you to watch them.

As I have mentioned before, we need to move towards green energy, but that move can not override all other aspects of life. We need to make sure that we are considering noise levels, wild life, and other environmental impacts. It’s only if we do this that we will truly be able to consider the energy green.

There is a lot of controversy as to the effectiveness and the sustainability of alternative energy sources such as wind turbines. Unfortunately, the sources of information on the subject are usually biased. Finding an honest discussion can be difficult.

Here’s an an excerpt from an interesting article on the subject of wind turbines.

Stevens has the right attitude. If we can discuss the pros and the cons of wind turbines (along with other environmental solutions) we can move towards more effective solutions that cause less problems.

You can find the rest of the article at For and against wind power.