CATEGORY - AUTO

Advice

Indy - How to buy a greener car
Motortorque.com - The sub-100 Club
Gaurdian - How to drive a bargain

Articles

Indy - Why is the world so slow to produce environmentally-friendly cars? - Interesting summary
Times - Beat the Brown car tax swipe - Well, until the rules change again, at least
Indy - The latest affordable automobiles are as eco-friendly as hi-tech hybrids

Driving

drive55.org - US-based tips
Guardian - Life in the green lane
uk-roadsafety.co.uk -
EPA - Fuel economy

Biofuels

Ecologist - NEW - Biofuels rather than electric cars to meet renewables target - Paging Messrs Mandleson, Milibands, etc

Electric

The Register - SF's green mayor dreams of electric car heaven - With the comments an interesting breakdown of pros and cons

trendhunter - 32 Electric Cars

sahkoautot.fi - early days, but looks fun. Could answer some of my concerns on 'new' models and testbeds that are none too practical.

Times - Brown plugs into future of electric cars - Where does 'government money' come from?

BBC - Electric dreams: Taking to the road in a G-Wiz - '...to see just how easy it is to join the green revolution... because it has no exhaust emissions... to wean us off our addiction to expensive and increasingly scarce fossil fuels and to save the planet.. for this clean[ER] and cheap form of motoring'. It may be bett[ER], but I would dearly love just one of our national broadcaster's reporting elite and editorial agenda setters to get their heads around the fact that, unless you go solar or nuke to generate 'leccy, the polluting/emitting pipe is simply in another place. This seems to have passed by the other great brain on the case, our Dear Leader, too.

Guardian - What is going to power our cars?

Times - Tesla Roadster - More for the 'discussions' in reply

BBC Ethical Man - The car is dead... long live the car - Worth reading for some of the comments. Not sure most journalists are up to the task of sharing the issues sensibly.

Indy - Boris jumps on board France's 'hire an electric car' scheme

- The great environmental attraction of the scheme is that electric cars produce no CO2 emissions -

Until we have sensible-enviROI methods of 'leccy generation (and even then nukes or renewables still produce some Co2 from construction through operation to disposal).... oh yes they do! The exhaust pipe is, for now, simply elsewhere.

There are many merits, especially in crowed urban settings, for such options, but please don't trot out tripe.

ps: Didn't a host of the French bikes get nicked? At least in this case the ID of borrower will be more thoroughly checked one hopes, but the opportunities for waste through attrition still seem high.

Indy - Vindication!!!! (the system wouldn't 'accept' my comment yesterday) - But what will power Boris's electric cars? - I merely think 'better' would be a more accurate first stance, and even this needs proving.

Telegraph - How to drive fast, have a good time - and still save the planet - [Oddly, my comment was not one of those published.]

...assuming not making a new car and/or not running one are out as options, one presumes.

'It has no exhaust pipe.'

'...this car was producing no more noxious vapours than a dandelion in an alpine meadow.'

Please be more careful. You even allude to it yourself, but by failing to be clear others have had to do so, and raise the spectre of, how to say, 'optimistic' reporting requiring certain facts to be checked before one rushes to commit to the purchase of a brand new car in the cause of green (look up some rather poor-enviROI notions being promoted under the term 'scrappage'. I did. And it seems that instead of buying an '02 LPG Volvo the brainwave is that I should have waited get funded to buy a 6 litre Jag to help Mr. Tata).

There is much merit in much of what you share... BUT...

There IS an exhaust pipe. It is just in another location.

And from it, in the main, there is just as much noxious gunk going skywards here in the UK. Just... not where your voters are, or indeed anywhere close to where many other luvvie 'reporters' are within hailing distance of a tube train. Hence more BBC moppets than you can shake a taxi-fare at gurgling away at the rear-end of a G-Wiz.

So before we have 'my other car is a Prius' and vice versa on the Tesla sticker-printing, whilst ignoring the Aston and the Range Rover in the 4-car garage, let's get the full story please.

Especially the bits about the subsidies and lobbyist-fodder and PR-spin than flies about to so easily turn a young blonde's head at the expense of what's actually good for my kids' futures.

ps: Any chance of helping me get my V40 bi-fuel on the TfL congestion charging list? It doesn't count vs. bigger and more polluting cars 'cos 'computer says no'. Nothing like a good box tick, or not, eh?

Low Tech - Who killed the electric grid? - Worthy read

The Register - Tata to release UK's first 'serious' electric car - Worth it for the comments

Times - Electric Car survey - hey, when you're getting A £5K bung from other taxpayers...

Guardian - UK powers up plans for world's largest electric car trial - ignoring the enviROI of the power source, if you do see merit in electric, at least there's a better choice.

Indy - Batteries included: Are eco-friendly cars any good? - Looks like it's a Tesla then. And no mention of enviROI.

Indy - Is Britain going to be at the centre of the 'green car' revolution? - Well, if we are going to be gadding about in electric cars this is good news. I just hope they have the source of energy side sussed by then. Electric is only green if it is produced and delivered in a green way. And the battery tech has a long way to go in all fronts.

High mileage

Sharkride - aptera
EPA - Gas Saving and Emission Reduction Devices Evaluation - Yes it is, obviously, US-centric. But we do now have a global readership and I am aware some of what I include is often irrelevant to those in other parts. Call it sharing the love. In any case, some of these products may make it here, plus the site is worth a gander anyway.

Hydrogen

BBC - Hydrogen refuel station unveiled

Guardian - It drives well, but are hydrogen cars the future?

It may just be the name, but why does it seem to be a 4x4?

I have also been intrigued as to why, all other arguments aside, most other H2 outings seem to involve honking great bits of tin still.

Arnie's Hummer. Sir Rosie's 7-Series.

I guess it's part test-beds and part 'awareness' (like we need any more), but when are we going to get something like a normal 2/4 seat family saloon like a Fiesta so the plebs and those who only need it for work and or shopping can get enthused. Electrics, too. I'm afraid a G-Wiz or Tesla won't match my needs. At least hybrids are trying.

But that enviROI of what gets to turn the wheels is a biggie on the planet-saving front for a while, plus whatever the Chancellor decides to rake in trying to balance tax income with looking green that week.

For now I am trying to figure out how to get an R-reg Golf with 40k on the clock back on the road affordably having killed the engine when the water pump blew on the M4. Just getting it to safety was all it took to do the nasty,

At the 'mo I a staring at around £3k for a recon combo'd with an LPG conversion.

Might still be worth it 'til the next generation newbies are common and I can get a 2nd hander.

The Register - EU parliament says yes to hydrogen cars - Dontcha just love having our kids' eco-futures decided by guys driven round in 7-litre cars? Next thing you'll be telling me is Arnie uses a Hummer.

Times - Hydrogen future a long way off

Telegraph - NEW - Mazda RX-8H review - And it looks nice, too.

LPG

Meet Veronique - Junkk has bought an LPG car. This will track our journey.

Guardian - Driving lessons

eequality campaign - hat tip Adam Vaughan

Hybrids

thehybriddebate.com
Times - PRIUS: THE TRUTH - I should really get the original that inspired this letter, but it does show that the whole data/stats issue is very much open for debate. You might also notice a mention of a "Peter Martin"... another doppleganger!
Guardian - Is the Chevy Volt just hype? - any one say enviROI?

Scrapping

Guardian - Government may offer cash-back to owners who scrap old cars - Well, there's that 'may' word again. Interesting, but I hope they have worked out the enviROI between manufacture and operation.

Sites

eta -
vcacarfueldata.org.uk - check your car's CO2 rating... if you dare!
volkswagen - their vision of the future

Lord, hear our share

I guess how many votes might be in it.

Eh, Peter? Whadyareckon?

Scrap old gas appliances says the Corgi trust

Recognising that the advocacy group might have a vested interest, it makes a heck of a lot more sense to me than paying a person £2k to by a new Beemer motor car.

IMHO.

Addendum:

And not just me.

This from the ever well-informed and cutting-edge Dave of Solarventi:

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/boilerscrappage/

Addendum 2:

Edie - The minister tasked with battling climate change has backed calls for the government to create a boiler scrappage scheme. - Maybe instead/in favour of car schemes and/or £6m 'awareness' campaigns in danger of being.. er.. scrapped due to falling foul of objectivity rules?

Addendum 3: http://reheatbritain.org.uk/help - with that petition link if you find merit:)

After all the negativity of the recent 'climate awareness' nonsense, we might point our talking heads in more productive directions for their money, emissions-wise?