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 deter pedestrians and cyclists; cut through whole communities Driving unhealthy – is inactivity plus the body’s stress responses 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 Noise intrusion hospital & accident/ 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 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 Faster! If you drive at 90 km/h, you 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 cc Best fuel economy: 4.3L /100 km Worst: 8.8 L /100km med 1.4 to 2.2 L Best fuel economy: 4.4L /100 km Worst: 9.6 L /100km SUV to L Best fuel economy: 6.5L /100km Worst: 15.8L /100km How can technology help? Low-sulphur fuels Emission controls, CATs ‘Hybrid’ & plug-in electric/petrol engines, less heavy batteries Light-weight aluminium cars & smaller car size Easier car hire Hybrid & electric cars available Batteries need improvement & ‘plug-in hybrid’ not yet available in NZ 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 shoppingchoice 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 ... Emissions for a 10km for 4.0 3.7 Car, 2l engine 3.5 3.0 kg CO 2.5 2.1 Smaller car 2.0 1.5 1.1 Per person, shared car 0.9 1.0 Per person, bus 0.5 0.0 0.0 Large car (>2L engine) Average sized car Carpool... 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 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,