My esteemed Keloland colleague Cory Heidelberger draws our attention to an interesting post by my pal Doug Wiken on the dubious environmental benefits of hybrid cars like the Prius.
The June 2008 WIRED magazine page 153 suggest used vehicles might be better choices for lower carbon emissions than buying something like a new Prius because making a new Prius consumes 113 million Btus. A single gallon of gasoline contains about 113,000 Btus, so "Toyota's green wonder guzzles the equivalent of 1000 gallons of gasoline before it moves one mile. But, buy something like an old Tercel or other vehicle that gets 35mpg and the Prius will have to go 100,000 miles before it catches up.
I understand the comparison here is the energy cost of producing a new Prius vs. buying a used vehicle, which is the kind of angle that usually doesn't get reported. I have heard it said that we could save a lot of energy by getting all the gas-guzzlers off the road; but Wiken's point, based on WIRED, makes that look very doubtful.
The above doesn't count against the Prius if one is determined to buy a new car. But there are other considerations. What are the environmental consequences of producing the batteries that the hybrid vehicles require? The total production and disposal costs have to be counted in order to decide what the polar bears would drive.
All this might be eventually made up for by the hybrid's smaller environmental footprints while in operation. But do they really have smaller footprints? The London Times reports on a study by Auto Express that is throwing cold water on that claim.
Cars promoted as eco-friendly were criticised yesterday for pumping out up to 56 per cent more carbon dioxide than the manufacturers claim.
Three models, including the Honda Civic hybrid, performed so badly in tests that their environmental claims were dismissed as a gimmick.
Apparently one car produced more carbon emissions than other non-hybrids using the same engine. And then there is the kicker, from a comment on the Times article:
The only thing green about Hybrids is how much more of it you have to put out to buy and operate them. A recent article in a Toronto newspaper detailed that a Ford Escape SUV hybrid costs $14,145.00 more to own over 7 years than it's petrol brother. Even the Toyota Camery hybrid was $1298.00 more. Buy a fuel efficient petrol/diesel car and spend the money you save vs the hybrid to plant trees. You'll do the planet a bigger favour.
The truth is that it's next to impossible to solve ecological problems this way. The process of building, marketing, operating, and disposing of an automobile is just too complex for that. The only reliable guide we have is the economic one. Graham of Toronto is right: buy the car that meets your needs at the best price you can get. Use the extra money to plant a few trees and buy a bicycle. Buy the Prius only if what you are really in the market for is environmental chic.
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