For many years now there has been an increasing investment in the quest for greener cars. This has mainly focused on fuel and how we can find a cheaper and cleaner alternative to the tradition of petrol and diesel, as is currently used by hundreds of millions of cars across the world.
In recent years, Liquefied Petroleum Gas – LPG as it’s most commonly known – has made some inroads into the domestic vehicle fuel market. It contains less harmful emissions than petrol and diesel and can cut your fuel bills by around 50%. It’s also possible to convert most current vehicles to run on LPG; however, LPG is not yet available on every forecourt in the UK.
In recent times a lot of research has gone into biofuels made from food crops such as maize, wheat and rapeseed. The green credentials of biofuels lie in the theory that the CO2 emissions from a vehicle using biofuel are effectively offset by the amount of gas the crops took in when they were growing, therefore making emissions carbon neutral; but this is an area that is still being debated.
Biofuels are not without controversy though and many environmental organisations are concerned about the sustainable use of food crops as fuel sources and how this will affect those countries which rely heavily on these crops for income, and more important as a main source for food.
By 2010, the UK government has said it wants to see 5% of all fuel in the country coming from biofuels. In 2008 there are currently only a handful of biofuel filling stations in the UK, compared to over 1,000 in Sweden, where the government has introduced a number of financial incentives for owners of cars running on biofuel.
While the jury may still be out on the environmental and social impact of biofuels, many people are turning to electric cars as a green alternative to petrol and diesel. Vehicles powered by electricity have some restrictions in the speed and distance they can travel before needing to be recharged. While this excludes them from long distance driving, on the flip side it makes them ideal for getting around a city and with zero emissions. From an economic perspective they also bring about a number of financial benefits.
With vehicle manufacturers such as Mitsubishi and Subaru bringing out electric powered cars, the industry is beginning to show signs they are in favour of this change in how consumers travel on their journeys. Furthermore, as the technology behind the batteries becomes more advanced, the popularity of electric cars could soon be on the rise across the globe.
The world of motoring is undoubtedly changing; from plug-in electric cars, being able to get car insurance online and even pay as you go motorways in the form of toll booths. All of these changes have only really come to the fore in recent years, so who knows what the future may hold for vehicles and the environment?
Daniel Collins writes on a number of topics on behalf of a digital marketing agency and a variety of clients. As such, this article is to be considered a professional piece with business interests in mind.
