Car Travel Commentary

for Christchurch Energy Awareness

Week, 30 March 2009.
Rhys Taylor, Sustainable Living.

www.sustainableliving.org.nz
We seem to Love our Cars!
Advantages to the Car User...
‡ Door to door transport, if parking space.
‡ Flexibility on timing, if congestion allows.
‡ Passengers, including the younger & older.
‡ Inexpensive if several share car, or if only
fuel cost is considered (already have car)
‡ Large load carrying – boot, roof, trailer.
‡ Vehicles can be mobility adapted.
‡ Play music of choice inside.
‡ Status - conferred by society on the user?
 Disadvantages for Society?
‡ Fast, wide traffic routes ‡ Driving unhealthy – is
deter pedestrians and inactivity plus the body’s
cyclists; cut through stress responses.
whole communities.
In USA: 50% are active
‡
‡ Ever more land for roads and fit, 25% barely active,
and parking space is at
25% are completely
high cost to car owner,
taxpayer and ratepayer. inactive! Similar in NZ?
‡ High public costs for
hospital & accident/ ‡ Noise intrusion.
emergency services: city
road accidents at 26 per
1000 people per year.
 Cars, cars, more cars
‡ 48million cars/year are manufactured globally
‡ 40m cars/yr discarded in USA+ Japan+ Europe
‡ NZ has twice level of household car ownership of the
UK, near-equal to USA
‡ Fuel demand was growing 4% a year, until 2008.
‡ Making a car requires more (embodied) energy than
the average car will use in fuel for its first 10 yrs.
.. we import inefficient older cars

And waste fuel in them, then scrap them!

 Vehicle fumes hurt us!
‡ Over 90% of toxic Carbon Monoxide (C0) in city
atmosphere comes from car exhaust pipes.
‡ Increased levels of C0 reduce the amount of
oxygen carried by haemoglobin around the body
in red blood cells.
‡ Nitrogen Dioxide (N02) is a brown acidic gas
from car tailpipes, and also from welding,
factories & fires. 80% of N02 in city atmosphere
comes from car exhausts.
‡ Nitrogen dioxide causes respiratory problems &
inflames the lining of the lungs. It can reduce
resistance to lung infections.
 Typical car emissions
• Exhaust nitrogen oxides
(NOx) and hydrocarbons,
in sunlight create a
‘photochemical smog’
that damages lungs,
prompting asthma,
worsening bronchitis.
• Tiny soot particles from
burnt fuels, especially
diesel, also carry irritants
and carcinogens deep
into our lungs.
• Vehicle emissions may
kill more city people
than local road accidents
(Auckland study).
• Carbon monoxide (CO)
is toxic; and both CO
and CO2 emissions are
‘greenhouse gases’.
 New Zealanders Under Scrutiny
‡ New Zealand is 4th largest producer of
greenhouse gases per capita (measured as CO2
equivalents, coming after Australia, USA and
Canada). We burn less coal per person.
‡ By 2005, NZ emissions grew 37% over 1990
levels. Increasing livestock numbers is a
significant methane contributor, but a large part
of NZ increase is CO2 from growth in road freight,
car ownership and higher use of cars. Air travel
only a small part, but it’s growing fast too.
We are in new territory for CO2 levels, beyond
historical variation of ice ages and warm periods
 Can the Climate Cope?
The 700
billion tonnes
of carbon
released if we
burn known
oil reserves Then
will push you
global temp add
up past the the
critical 2oC coal
threshold for and
global gas
warming
(‘run-away’)
 Global Warming is Real
Summer melting of Greenland ice sheet edges

Greater summer
melt of Arctic sea
ice threatens bears
Variation in Co2
Variation emissions for 10km trip
in CO2 Emissions for a 10km trip

4.0
3.7
Car, 2l engine
3.5

3.0

2.5
2.1 Smaller car
kg CO 2

2.0

1.5
Per person,
shared car
1.1
Per person,
1.0 0.9
bus
0.5

0.0
0.0
Large car (>2L engine) Average sized car Carpool (2 people or more) Bus Bike, walk
Bicycle/walking
Petrol Price Trend is Up
Global Oil Demand
 What is Peak Cheap Oil?
‡ Global oil field discovery
peaked in early 1960s
‡ Annual finds have declined
since (Almost no ‘easy’ liquid
oil reserves left to find)
‡ Production peaks 25 - 40 yrs
after discovery peak in each
region
‡ 90% of all conventional oil
reserve discovered globally
is now in production stage
‡ NZ potential oil mostly
offshore, costly to access.
Supply & Demand Converging
Where else is Oil used?

Air travel, car-making,

plastics, paint, heating,
PCs, pesticide, fertiliser,
pharmaceuticals, etc.
 Addicted to Oil?
‡ 95% of all transportation, whether by land, air or sea,
is fuelled by oil.
‡ 95% of all goods in shops involve the use of oil.
‡ 95% of all food products require oil use (figures from USA).
‡ The world consumes approx 85 million barrels of oil a
day (approx 5,500 Olympic sized swimming pools)
‡ Compare to 1990 global oil consumption at just 66
million barrels a day
Can we escape car dependence?
‡ Is always ‘needing’ a
car just a state of
mind?
‡ How will you react to
fuel at $3/l, or $5/l?
‡ Live nearer to work?
‡ Not be able to afford
some jobs, schools &
leisure interests?
 Driving tips to save on fuel
‡ Combine journeys &
tasks, avoid shortest
car trips entirely
‡ Give workmates &
friends lifts: carpool
‡ Don’t carry
unnecessary boot
loads, or roof-boxes
‡ Use correct tyre
pressures, check!
‡ Preventative
maintenance and
tuning the engine,
especially diesels,
extends vehicle life
and reduces sooty
air-pollution
‡ Use smaller vehicles
Driving styles and ‘mode’ choices
‡ If you drive at 90 km/h, you
Faster! save on buying 20% of the
fuel you’d require going at
109 km/h, adding only 12
mins per 100km. Start trips
earlier, to save the money!
‡ Accelerate and brake gently
to save 10% of fuel costs.
‡ Or, travel by coach or rail.
This cuts fuel use by 80%
compared to making a car
trip, for a solo traveler, if
the public transport is well
used.
 Fuel Economy by Car Type
www.rightcar.govt.nz/ or www.fuelsaver.co.nz

small Up to 1.4 L Best fuel economy: Worst:

cc 4.3L /100 km 8.8 L /100km

med 1.4 to 2.2 L Best fuel economy: Worst:

4.4L /100 km 9.6 L /100km

SUV 2 to 5 L Best fuel economy: Worst:

6.5L /100km 15.8L /100km
 How can technology help?
‡ Low-sulphur fuels
‡ Emission controls,
CATs
‡ ‘Hybrid’ & plug-in
electric/petrol Hybrid & electric cars available.
Batteries need improvement & ‘plug-in
engines, less heavy hybrid’ not yet available in NZ
batteries.
‡ Light-weight
aluminium
cars & smaller car
size.
‡ Easier car hire.
Hybrid dual-power system is
more complex to construct &
maintain, and heavy.
 Time-saver, or life-shortener?
‡ Road congestion trend = up 40% from 2000 to 2020
‡ Is it really time saving to commute by car? You can
read and chat while on a bus; get fitter when cycling or
walking (& save money on gym fees); no parking cost!
‡ Recent ‘commuter challenge’ in Christchurch showed
cyclists matching car travel times into workplaces.
Compare walking, cycle, car, bus...

‡ Car with a single

traveler is least efficient
use of energy per km of
road travel (Air travel is
worse still, per Km)
‡ Multi-passenger cars &
buses are similar to
eachother; trains are
better still.
‡ Bicycle or walking are
the most efficient, (so:
“My other car’s a
bicycle” could be your
bumper sticker?)
Road-space for same no. of travelers:

One car each... One bus full.... Cycles

 Buses & walking more attractive?
‡ Faster city journeys -
simpler ticket systems
(cards), low fares for
return trips & discounts
for regular commuters
pensioners & children
‡ Knowing when bus is
due (timetable, website,
and electronic displays)
‡ More comfortable seats
‡ Bus lanes & bus priority
‡ Shelters at bus stops
‡ Work on the bus, or
read, make friends…
Next Steps?
‡ Discover other ways to help
the environment when mobile,
stay healthy & aim to save $$
too. Walk instead of gym fees!
‡ Free information on energy,
water, cars, reducing rubbish,
gardening, and shopping-
choice actions at:
www.sustainableliving.org.nz
‡ Meet others also interested,
for local study groups or
evening classes. Register
interest in classes and/or
newsletter at the website:
www.sustainableliving.org.nz