Transportation - Planes, Trains and Automobiles

While it's to expensive to just go out and replace your existing automobile, what you drive, has the single biggest impact on your carbon footprint on this earth! If you can get by without a personal automobile you'll be much better off financially. Even if you own a car, van or light truck, take a hard look at alternatives such as public transit, bike or walking. The alternatives often involve some physical activity which has health benefits of their own.

Do you really need that big SUV, truck or van? Can you get by with one vehicle and/or renting a "larger" vehicle on the few occasions when you need one? The average fuel economy for an American automobile has fallen 5% in the past 20 years, from a high of 22.1 in 1987 to 21 mpg today.

Bikes

Motorized or not, you'll be better off with a bike than using a car or truck to get where you're going. Of course a pedal bike is "THE" way to go. No pollution, easy to park and you get and stay in shape.... eliminates the need for a gym membership too! Some governments are even jumping on board. In Ontario, the provincial government has made the purchase of bicycles sales tax exempt.

Commute to Work by Bike

Biking isn't that hard, saves you a lot of money and you will get in shape.
Find a safe and pleasant route to work. Don't assume that the route you drive to work is the best route for biking. Usually you can file bike trails and paths or roads with a separate bike lane. When you can't, use back streets and side roads. Keep it safe and enjoyable.
Make a test run on a weekend and try several different routes. The traffic should be lighter so you need to give yourself some extra time for work days.
Find a safe place to lock up your bike. Bike theft is rampant, but many office buildings are providing indoor parking for bikes or security for bike parking. Some employers will let you bring your bike up the elevator to your office. Spend the money and get the biggest, heaviest lock you can afford.

Hybrids

These vehicles usually have a combination of power drives such as an electric motor and a gas or diesel engine. Often the gas engine will be shut off completely when traveling at very low speeds or when idling. The combination of gas-electric, greatly increases the range of the vehicle over a gasoline-only or electric-only car. Do pay attention to the miles-per-gallon or litres-per-kilometer numbers for both city, highway and combined driving. If you do almost all of your driving on a highway, a fuel efficient diesel will be more cost effective than a hybrid. Any gas/electric hybrid vehicle bought in the USA after Dec. 31, 2005 for personal use is eligible for a US federal income tax credit of up to $3,150. See the chart below for a list of credit amounts for 2007 model year vehicles.

US Federal Income Tax Credit for Hybrids

Year, Make & Model	Amount
2007 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid 2WD	$250
2007 Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid 4WD	$650
2007 Ford Escape Hybrid 2WD	$2,600
2007 Ford Escape Hybrid 4WD	$1,950
2007 GMC Sierra Hybrid 2WD	$250
2007 GMC Sierra Hybrid 4WD	$650
2007 Honda Accord Hybrid	$1,300
2007 Honda Civic Hybrid	$2,100
2007 Lexus GS 450h	$775
2007 Lexus RX 400h 2WD	$1,100
2007 Lexus RX 400h 4WD	$1,100
2007 Mercury Mariner Hybrid	$1,950
2007 Saturn Vue Green Line Hybrid	$650
2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid	$1,300
2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid 2WD	$1,300
2007 Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4WD	$1,300
2007 Toyota Prius	$1,575

All vehicles must be purchased on or before Dec. 31, 2010 to be eligible for the credit, but the credit may end sooner for some vehicles than others. Hybrid tax credits will be phased out for vehicles offered by a given manufacturer once that company has sold a total of 60,000 eligible hybrid and lean-burn vehicles starting in January 2006.

Beginning with the second calendar quarter after the manufacturer has sold 60,000 eligible vehicles; the credit will then drop to 50 percent of the full credit amount for two calendar quarters, then to 25 percent for the next two calendar quarters. After that, the incentives for vehicles by that manufacturer will end. Toyota/Lexus passed the 60,000 vehicle threshold in mid-2006, so all incentives for the Camry, Highlander, Prius, GS 450h and RX 400h hybrids were halved for vehicles placed in service after Sept. 30, 2006. Reduced incentives are reflected in the amounts listed in the above chart.

Electric Vehicles

If you must have a vehicle, then electric plug-in is the way to go. The vast majority of daily car trips are under 10 miles (16 kilometers) in distance. Several manufactures are now offering plug-in electric vehicles, with even more announcements for new vehicles just a year or so away. See our section on Electric Plugin Vehicles. Several of these electric cars will travel over 100 miles per charge and reach speeds over 60 mph.

Greenest Cars

Some of the greenest cars, listed with the combined MPG, include:

Honda Insight - 62.7
Toyota Prius - 56
Mercedes Smart - 56
Honda Civic Hybrid - 49.9
Volkswagen Golf TDI - 43.9
Volkswagen Beetle TDI - 40.2
Toyota Camry Hybrid - 39.1
Volkswagen Jetta TDI - 38.3
Volkswagen TDI Wagon - 38.3
Toyota Echo - 38.2
Toyota Yaris - 38.0
Toyota Corolla - 36.1
Honda Fit - 35.3
Honda Civic - 34.5

Some of the best mileage Pickup Trucks

Ford Ranger Pickup 2WD - 26.3
Mazda B2300 2WD - 26.3

Minivans

Honda Odyssey 2WD - 23.6

SUV

Ford Escape Hybrid - 33.8

Biodiesel

Made from vegetable oils or animal fat, biodiesel can be burned directly in new model vehicles without any changes. Much older diesel engines may need some rubber seals replaced. In cold climates, biodiesel comes premixed with fossil fuel diesel in the winter to prevent the fuel from gelling. Biodiesel greatly reduces emissions compared to fossil fuel based diesel, in all categories except particulate matter. The production of biodiesel is also fairly efficient, unlike corn ethanol.

Ethanol

While several countries are producing ethanol as a fuel for vehicles, the benefits are mostly through use of local produce to produce the ethanol, thus keeping the money within the country. Brazil for example, imports very little gasoline as most vehicles run on locally produced ethanol. From a greenhouse gas perspective, it takes almost as much energy to make corn ethanol as you get out of it when you burn it (2:1). Sugarcane ethanol has a much better ratio of about 9:1.

A small company called Amyris is working on a process that would use yeast or bacteria to turn sugars directly into fuel . In theory, you would have about a 1000:1 payback as very little energy would be used to make the fuel. This company has already developed a vaccine for Malaria, using a similar process, that cut the cost of this vaccine in half. They are also working on a low carbon jet fuel for Virgin Airlines.

Algae: Several test sites are in operation. Concern exists regarding the various strains of algae being used and environment issues should some of these escape the lab. One promising test site takes the carbon dioxide from a coal fired electrical generator's stack, and uses it as feed for the algae. This results are mixed though the process has the potential to use carbon twice: Once to make electricity, Second to as a fuel for vehicles - then into the air it goes.

Drive @ 55mph/90kph for best fuel efficiency

Why is 55 miles per hour or 90 kilometers per hour the best speed? It's because of the "air drag". As you increase your speed above this rate, the drag causes a very significant reduction in your gas mileage. Turns out this is the most efficient speed to travel. See our Tips page for improving your mileage.