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permaculture - Re: [permaculture] on cars and communal building

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  • From: Toby Hemenway <hemenway@jeffnet.org>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] on cars and communal building
  • Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 11:19:35 -0700

Anne wrote:
In terms of air polution, modern cars are actually not as responsible as many people think. The main culprits are those horrible engines in lawn mowers, leaf blowers, etc. and diesle engines.

The Portable Power Equipment Manufacturers claim that less than 1% of California's air pollution comes from 2-cycle engines (mowers, etc).

The American Lung Assn http://www.lungusa.org/air/airout00_diesel.html says diesels account for 26% of all particulate pollution from fuel in the air, so that leaves 3/4 of all particulates coming from other fuels; diesel is hardly the main culprit. My bio-diesel buddies claim diesels cause less pollution than comparable gas car exhaust; I'll have to question them more carefully about that.

I would also like to warn anybody thinking about owning hybrid or electric cars... Sure, the gas efficiency is wonderful, but the batteries that compensate for it are some of the most toxic things I've ever heard of.

The Toyota Prius uses nickel/metal hydride batteries, which are not regarded as hazardous waste when damaged (nickel is pretty inert, or our food cans would kill us). I don't know offhand what some of the other hybrids are using, but I believe they are not lead-acid or other toxic combinations. Also, batteries in hybrids are far smaller than in all-electric cars. And sure, they wear out in 10 years or so, but the many thousands of pounds of pollution that is saved more than makes up for the few pounds of battery core (most of which is recycled, anyway).

What's this "six block evacuation" after an electric vehicle crash? I'd like to know more about that. Sounds like an oil lobbyist's dream.

I think it's important to check facts and to be cautious in condemning attempts to improve the environment. Nothing we do will be perfect, but I'd rather see us take small steps toward sustainability and support them, rather than criticize the efforts of others and wait for the giant leap to perfection that will never happen.

Toby





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