Читать книгу How Can I Stop Climate Change: What is it and how to help - Литагент HarperCollins USD, F. M. L. Thompson - Страница 133

More efficient driving means getting more miles out of every gallon of fuel or using different fuels. So we need to look at the way people drive and the types of car they use. The performance of modern vehicles varies enormously, from small vehicles that can do 65-70 mpg, to big gas-guzzlers that manage less than 15 mpg. Carbon dioxide emissions are directly related to miles per gallon and so can vary from 104 g/km for a Toyota Prius hybrid to 520 g/km for a sports car (Lamborghini Diablo 132) and 387 g/km for a 4X4 (Toyota Land Cruiser). Within each class of car performance varies too: at 186-219 g/km, for example, a Lexus hybrid is much more polluting than the Prius. An average motor emits 90 kg of carbon dioxide for every full tank of petrol used.

A UK government-commissioned study found that, assuming the car will continue to be the way most people choose to get around, the best thing to do will be to make cars as low-carbon as possible. The European Union has set a target for car manufacturers to reduce average emissions from new cars to 140 g/km carbon dioxide by 2010; new cars sold in the UK in 2006 were above this average, at 167.2 g/km. Tougher emissions standards for vehicles would make one of the biggest contributions to cutting transport’s carbon fuel bill.