While we sadly may be part of the exception rather than the rule here in LA, many of Global Green's staff in Santa Monica live close enough to the office to walk or bike to work with ease. We have two walkers, four bikers, and a bus-taker.

On top of that, we have lots of eco drivers: three Prius drivers, and three others with Toyotas that get 30+ mpg. Others in the office are behind the wheels of EVs: two drivers of the Ford Think Neighbor EV (remember that vehicle…they're still on the road!), and one new and very proud Chevy Volt owner. They share an outlet in the garage for charging up their vehicles – and when California gas prices topped $5 a gallon last month, they were feeling pretty good about their vehicle choices.
The topic of how much we pay at the pump and how we can reduce our carbon footprint with transportation methods was a water cooler topic in many workplaces with the latest surge in gas prices. As the rest of the nation reacted to the news with fear that prices would rise everywhere, we reminded ourselves that we are lucky to live in a state that is leading the way in fighting climate change with legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions on the roads, and with stationary sources. Our low carbon fuel standard and greenhouse gas emission reduction law means our air is cleaner and our impact on the planet is lessened.

It also means California is positively impacting the development of cleaner, fuel-efficient cars. Based on the EPA estimate that a typical passenger vehicle emits about 5.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, we were able to calculate the greenhouse gas savings of our Santa Monica staff: we are able to save more than 50 metric tons per year by walking, biking, and driving green cars. In the meantime, our conscious commute choices are saving us cash while we cut GHGs. And one employee also estimated that the walkers and bikers combine to burn off a half a million calories per year, too! It’s win-win-win.

Matt Petersen is President and CEO of Global Green USA, the American arm of Green Cross International

 

Recent media coverage of electric vehicles has featured claims of high environmental impact due to the production and disposal phases of the vehicle life cycle. ACEEE’s Green Book, which evaluates such impacts for real vehicle models, helps put this issue into perspective.

Among model year 2012 vehicles, production and disposal emissions were about 30 percent higher for EVs than for comparably-sized conventional vehicles, due to relatively high per-pound battery production emissions. And while these ‘embodied’ emissions accounted for 22 percent of total vehicle impacts on average, they were just above half for EVs.

Nonetheless, EVs received very high Green Scores, reflecting low environmental impact, not a surprise given their zero in-use emissions. And of course, their scores will climb further if and when the ‘upstream’ emissions associated with electricity generation decline.

More broadly, as vehicles’ in-use emissions and energy consumption fall, production and disposal will indeed be increasingly important determinants of environmental impact. Material substitution to reduce vehicle weight, which in turn allows downsizing of vehicle systems and further weight reduction, is already a key strategy to boost fuel economy. Production of advanced, lightweight materials can be energy-intensive, and net impacts will reflect this, together with material recyclability and the fuel savings these materials enable. But careful analyses of these considerations to date have shown a clear net reduction in energy use and GHG emissions from the use of high-strength steel and aluminum, for example.

The recent light-duty vehicle fuel economy and GHG emissions rule provoked a lively discussion of the possibility of standards based on full life cycle emissions. At present, this would be quite a challenge, given the paucity of data on the content and production of individual models and differing views on life cycle analysis.

And for now, fuel economy remains the undisputed heavyweight in vehicle environmental impacts. But we should prepare for a time when, thankfully, that will no longer be the case.

 

Therese Langer is Transportation Program Director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, www.ACEEE.org