Lots of electric vehicles were rolling towards Geiranger for an EV festival this weekend. Norway now boasts one of the largest markets in the world for the quiet cars.
Credit: El-bil Forening
This year the average concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere has hit its highest level in 800,000 years. Yet without urgent efforts to reduce emissions, concentrations, and the damage caused by climate change, this concentration will continue to grow.
One of the sectors where CO2 emissions continue to rise is transport. Recent analysis of the carbon budget suggests that petrol and diesel car sales will have to end by 2030 in order to counter this trend.
We all understand the implications of driving, in terms of CO2 and other emissions, and many of us are acting to do something to reduce the extent of our impacts. So why is this not translating into a reduction in emissions?
The reasons are many, varied, and complex:
- The move to heavier, and therefore less fuel efficient cars, as the ‘high-end’ car market becomes increasingly dominant;
- There may be […]
Back in World War 2 there were huge signs posted all over the highways saying “Is This Trip Really Necessary?”. I ask everyone that, especially my son who drives 30-40 miles just to go grocery shopping. He does have reason: the place he lives does not have many grocery stores, and the prices are better where we live because there are more stores and more competition, but I still ask him if it is worth the trip just to get better prices while spending so much for gas. My wife and I go almost nowhere except for the Doctor’s offices, drug stores, and shopping trips to close stores. I have only filled up our car once this year and still have a lot of gas left. It is how much a person drives which is more important than what size vehicle one drives. I would love to have an electric car, but that still produces CO2 at the place where the electricity is created, unless a person is fortunate enough to have a solar or wind source of electricity production. Of course big cities have more advantage of using electric modes of transportation on mass transport vehicles. I remember being in Germany back in my Army days and riding wonderful electric trains, and that was way back in the sixties. They were already ahead of the times.