SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT

Need for change: Disadvantages of today’s gas vehicles

Pollution

Automobiles are the single greatest polluter in the world today. It has been estimated that 2/3 of all air pollution results from automobiles. As a result, 50% of Americans live in areas that fail to meet National air quality standards. According to American Lung Association, air pollution kills 60,000-120,000 people each year and costs $93 billion in medical bills. The table below shows the major emissions of a typical passenger car over one year.

Here is a description of many of the major pollutants of automobiles and their effect on the environment…

• CO2- One of the major greenhouse gases. 300-400 pounds of CO2 are formed per tank of gasoline.
• CO- a colorless, odorless, and poisonous gas produced by incomplete burning of carbon in fuels. CO is a serious health threat that can cause cardiovascular disease. Also rises and contributes to global warming.
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• Hydrocarbons and Nitrogen Oxides- Nitrogen oxides (NOx) include various compounds like NO2 and NO that play an important role in atmospheric reactions that create ozone (O3) and acid rain. Both HC’s and NOx’s cause photochemical smog in the presence of sunlight.
  
  OTHERS:
• CFC’s – The most potent greenhouse gas which contributes 24% to the total global warming effect, and CFC’s also are responsible for depleting the ozone.
• Methane – CH3 also is created and eats away at the ozone.
• Lead- Lead is found in the gasoline and can cause health problems that affect the nervous, reproductive, digestive, cardiovascular systems, and the kidneys.
• Ozone- O3 is the major component of smog. In the upper atmosphere, it is needed to shield the earth from the suns damaging UV rays, but at ground level O3 is a health concern. Ozone damages lung tissue and causes many respiration problems.
  

Problems resulting from pollutants

• Global warming – Global warming is the result of air-polluting greenhouse gases such as CFC’s, CO2, N20, CH4, HC’s, NOx, and CO that accumulate in the atmosphere and trap the suns rays from reflecting off earth. The result is a slow warming trend that could result in an environmental catastrophe. In time, a few degrees of warming could completely change ecosystems that have been around for thousands of years, and could also melt glaciers and ice that would cause sea level to rise several meters.
  
  -check out this site for a quick flash video summary of global warming and its effects on the environment
  
• Smog – Smog is the accumulation of brown, hazy fumes containing ozone and other oxidants that has many health effects. Smog is very common in places like Los Angeles where there is a lot of automobile emissions, sunshine, and frequent inversion layers.
  
  
• Ozone depletion – Many of the pollutants gas vehicles release are responsible for the growing trend of ozone depletion. As holes in the ozone develop, harmful UV rays from the sun penetrate down to earth which are causing an increase in skin disease and caner.
  
  

Efficiency and oil usage

Along with being much cleaner for the environment, hybrid and electric vehicles are much more efficient and therefore reduce the US dependence on oil. The growing dependence on oil and search for alternative fuels has become a major issue in the United States. Because transportation accounts for a large majority of fossil fuel use, and a majority is imported, improving efficiency and reducing transportations need for oil can greatly help the US. When the entire energy chain is constructed, including generation, transportation, and usage, hybrid and electric cars are over 30% more efficient then regular vehicles.

The Facts:

-1/2 of world’s oil goes into transportation
-in the US 66% of oil goes to transportation
-50% of our oil is imported from OPEC producers
-750 million gallons of gas each day, we spend $200,000 on foreign oil every minute.

• For more information on the trouble with America’s Oil Dependence, check out http://evworld.com/library/NRDC_oilsecurity.pdf
  

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