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We all know "euro-spec" BMWs, Volkswagens, Mercedes-Benzes, and Audis from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that came with more power than the imports that came to the States. Why didn't America get any of those awesome cars? It turns out, like always, it's the Germans' fault. More »
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A lecturer at Dublin's Trinity College thinks severely raked rear spoilers increase the amount of airborne pollutants at ground level, while flat ones minimize it. And since your Toyota Corolla's spoiler doesn't do anything, it might as well decrease pollution. More »
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A recent study published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE indicates that people living in polluted areas have a higher chance of contracting heart disease. Here's a news flash: Breathe smog, bad things happen! Ain't proof grand? More »
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The Discovery Channel's Planet Green seems to hate cars, maligning our favorite mode of transportation as "wrecking our culture." We say their arguments are a crock of crap. More »
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A new study reveals car exhaust clouds attract lightning and actually increase the frequency of strikes. Metallica approves. More »
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The Detroit News reports on a major emissions-limiting ruling by the EPA Thursday that will affect recreational boats and outdoor power equipment with engines smaller than 25 HP. Small engines, such as those found on boats and lawnmowers, are essentially unregulated, making up as much as 25% of current yearly US CO emissions. The new ruling will require a significant reduction in that output, likely necessitating the use of catalytic converters and other pollution control devices. Boat engines will have to meet the new standards starting in 2010, while your lawnmower won't come with an air pump, EGR valve and catalyst until 2011. Hopefully it'll run right on E10 gasoline by then too. More »
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Chinese restrictions on truck traffic and chemical transport during the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics are forcing plant cutbacks among local automakers, reports Automotive News China. The restrictions have forced Beijing Hyundai and supplier Visteon, among other automotive factories, to reduce shifts and temporarily close factories, putting the kibosh on any Great Leaps Forward, at least during the games. More »
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Back in the 1960's love was free, pregnant women smoked and drank, and Chrysler dumped pollutants into ponds near a transmission plant in Kokomo. As this had a negative effect on the area, Chrysler started cleaning the site in the 1980's and has teamed with Purdue University to harness the power of hybrid poplar trees to suck the pollution out of the ground. Also, the trees can help improve the process of turning harvested plants into primary votes bio-ethanol. Press release on all that poplars can do below the jump: More »
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Transit officials in Beijing have opted not to limit the number of private cars on its streets, inadvertently giving athletes from America's big cities more of a hometown feel. The Chinese capital is well known for smog and congestion, with more than three million registered cars clogging approximately 90% of the city's streets. Instead of restricting usage like some Chinese cities, the booming metropolis is instead going to encourage usage of its expanded public transit system with lower fares. Commies. If you're planning on traveling to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics we recommend bringing a book, a gas mask and some Perri-air. [AFP] More »
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As much as we vent here on tha Jalop about the habits and attitudes of many hybrid drivers, we're not against the gasoline-electric machines. We think they're fascinating pieces of technology, and in stop-and-go environments, their benefit is clear, both in terms of emissions and fuel savings. And we're not, per se against Ontario's nascent initiative to reward the drivers of fuel-efficient vehicles. But ferchrissakes, lawmakers, do not let solo hybrid drivers into your HOV lanes. The benefit is useless at constant freeway speeds. But carpool lanes are designed largely to reduce congestion, not pollution. Don't succumb to hybrid jackassery, Ontario! You Canucks are supposed to be the sensible North Americans! [The Star] More »
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Ghosn's minions at Nissan have come up with a catalytic converter that requires half the precious metals as current exhaust scrubbers. Given that platinum, rhodium and palladium aren't exactly the cheapest of substances, the new system which keeps the metals from collecting in the cat under high temps, leading to what the company says is a half-price screamer of a deal on the new components. Carlos, no doubt, is cracking his crème brûlée in delight. [Wired] More »
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Blighty's system of taxes for higher-emissions vehicles have some environmental activists calling for a new level of taxes for such vehicles as the blown Range Rover. Currently, vehicles fall into bands A through G. The called-for "H" band would propose and additional five-hundred quid tax, hopefully screwing up the vehicles' resale value and thus making them less attractive to well-heeld Britons. We're not entirely sure what we think. One hand, we support the idea. On the other hand it's emblematic of the massive panic about carbon-dioxide and vehicles' role in it in the UK. And well, panicking Britons are especially irksome. [What Car?] More »
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The South Coast Air Quality Management District is sponsoring Southern California exchange events where owners of older, two-stroke leaf blowers can swap them at a serious discount for new four-stroke models that pollute less and emit noise levels more akin to a regular busy street than a field of DKW rally machines at full chat. Older, two stroke machines, over the course of a year, emit 80 times more schmutz than your joe average car running 12,500 miles during the same period. We'd love to know how they stack up against a Saab 96. More »
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The debate rages back and forth about whether cars or cattle are worse for the environment. As a global warming agent, methane is 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and bovines pump the stuff out by the pantsful — estimates arrage around 26-132 gallons per cow, per day. There are 1.5 billion of the animals in the world today, and it's estimated that agricultural methane production could increase 60% by 2030. [Howstuffworks] More »
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A study in Japan over a period of fourteen months has shown that a system designed to run heating and cooling systems from external power sources when trucks are parked has cut C02 emissions from the vehicles by 97%. Consisting of a cabin-mounted cooler and electric carpets and blankets for heating, the Stop Idling system drops commercially in Nihon next March. We also assume that the system could be modified to light up one's dekotora. Now we just need a hot plate for cooking up some udon on the road and we're set. [Envautomental] More »
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Autoblog Frank notes that actions by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist indicate that the nation's exceptionally peninsular state is moving toward adopting the greenhouse-gas standards of the California Air Resources Board, which would make our brothers in oranges the twelfth of the fifty to hop on the bandwagon. As populous as FL is, it could very well effectively force the hand of automakers to bend to the will of the Golden State when it comes to emissions standards. Über alles, California. [Autoblog] More »
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Mayor Xu Zongheng of the Chinese burg of Shenzhen has not called for residents of his fair city to purchase more Leadbelly recordings, keep domesticated dik-diks as housepets and to stock up on Icelandic gustatory staples. Rather, he has implored the citizens in his charge to stop purchasing motor vehicles so rashly, noting that 70% of the city's air pollution comes from motor vehicles and that the city's million cars would encircle the city twice. Meanwhile, the city is working on improvements to public transit and has a 23-year plan to build 130 km of expressways and 337 kilometers' worth of roads. We'd still like to see that Leadbelly decree, though. That'd be the business. More »
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Twenty-five percent of Sweden's energy comes from renewable resources. Forty percent of the top ten vehicles on Swedish roads come from the nation's homegrown, foreign-owned automakers. And as such, the EU points the carbon-dioxide finger at Sverige and the International Herald Tribune gladly plays along, painting the Scandanavian socialists as greedy scumbags. The Swedes' defense? They like their cars. We suppose, as Americans, the rationale doesn't really wash with us. On the other hand, the Swedes may actually be trying to warm the globe, so's to become a vacation destination, thus bringing lingonberry yogurt to the masses. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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While India's expanding middle class is now more able to afford motor vehicles beyond scooters and Renault/Nissan are looking at jumping into the $3000-car segment in India (presumably with some variant of the Logan), environmentalists and traffic gurus got worry on their hands. While public transit in New Delhi has cut carbon monoxide levels drastically, an influx of newer, cheaper cars with emissions standards behind Europe and the United States could start pushing the numbers back up. What's more, Murad Ali Baig, an Indian auto journalist, asks in the face of the impending flood, "The question is — where are all the bloody roads to cope?" – Davey G. Johnson More »
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Reports have city officials in Burlington, Vermont set to enforce a law that prohibits idling of internal combustion engines between April 1st and November 1st. Burlington Mayor Bob Kiss said that idling has a cumulative effect on greenhouse gas emissions, and that not idling could reduce emissions in a meaningful way. The fine for non-compliance will be 45 bucks. The twist is that the anti-idling law is already on the books, and has been since 1990. Why the powers that be in Burlington have suddenly decided to hold a press conference on enforce this 17-year old law is reportedly due to increasing public demand to do something about global warming, and has nothing to do with political aggrandizement of any kind. Refrigerated trucks full of Ben & Jerry's or ice-cold Labatts '50s are exempt from anti-idling restrictions. – Mike Bumbeck More »
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With all this talk about Wartburg this and Trabant that, we sometimes forget that East Germany wasn't the only Warsaw Pact nation cranking out dangerous rattletraps lightweight, affordable vehicles for its glorious socialist workers. Romania isn't just about vampires and uica; it's the proud home of the Dacia (which, admittedly, was a Renault knockoff during much of the late Cold War era). But now, the Romanian government, in an apparent effort to look all environmentally responsible to its new pals in the EU, is turning on its old Dacia friends, enticing owners to send them to the cold, cruel jaws of The Crusher in exchange for 20 pieces of silver (3,000 lei) toward the purchase of a newer, cleaner ride. – Murilee Martin More »
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Angela Merkel just applied a blast furnace to the cockles of our speed-freak hearts by standing up to the EU and asserting that unrestricted autobahn speeds aren't negotiable. The key to the development of the most Brucetastic vehicles in the world, the highways are a wonder of order and precision, at least when compared to the 405. The German chancellor stared down EU Environmental Commissioner Stavros Dimas when he asserted that Germany isn't doing enough to be green. Funny, because when we studied in Germany a decade ago, it was a helluva lot greener than the US is now. Plus, gas prices and the cost and rigorous nature of driver training in Germany, as well as serious TUV inspections, combined with impeccably-maintained roadways make travel by car in the nation, from our anecdotal experience, some of the safest and cleanest in the world. More »
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We're big fans of Portland, Oregon. Sure the downtown one-way system and obsessively obsessive buslanes are a pain in the ass and the punkers sparing for change give us bad Telegraph Ave and Gilman Street flashbacks, but it's a beautiful, civic-minded city. And PDX is simply one of the best airports in the country. Recently, critics of the facility commissioned a study of air quality in the flight path of the place. But when the Southwest Clean Air Agency said that they couldn't differentiate the difference between toxic compounds in the air from those produced by vehicles, rendering the study inconclusive, a fight broke out between airport proponents and eco-minded folks. However, most people agree that less benzene is a good idea. We can get behind less benzene, although the Ferrari 308 GT4's "benzina" gauge is totally freaking awesome. Just for the record. – Davey G. Johnson More »
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One of the problems with the California Air Resources Board is that they seem to be a bunch of liberals stuck in Sacramento. This makes them angry. And frankly, despite the fact that the city's metro area seems to nearly span the Central Valley, in some ways, the region is more desolate than ever. And while it's been full of vapid, unfriendly California rednecks forever, now it's full of vapid California rednecks in sport-utility vehicles. So we understand why the liberals want them off the road. The problem is this: the state isn't only defined by technology and Hollywood. More »
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CARB can't seem to leave well-enough alone. Yes, California has air-quality issues due to cars, industry and its particular geography. We certainly don't dispute that. But proposed legislation that includes random roadside checks and the imposition of smog standards on cars that were previously exempt seems wrongheaded, Left-Coast knee-jerk thinking. Apparently, part of the new rules could require testing of '66-'75 model-year vehicles, which are a staple of the aftermarket and encompass quite a few of the best-loved models in the enthusiast community. More »
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Today, when we learned Hollywood in West LA, we drove up from Pedro. In a Silverado. And no girls turned the color of the avocado as we drove down the street. But oh man, that girl with the floral tattoos at the Lemon Moon restaurant really flipped our switch. Especially when she got our A-Team joke. We wanna know her story. Mooniness aside (and more importantly), it took us an hour and a half to drive the 30 miles home. In a big, honkin' quad-cab, V8 Chevy. With no other passengers. This, friends, was not exactly the "Dodge Neon or Equivalent" we signed up for. Plus, it handled like a very large Aveo. In which case, give us the Silverado. More »
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According to a survey by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, 90% of Blighty motorists want cars that cause less in the way of blight, and the European Commission is fast-tracking an initiative to make that happen. The new Low Carbon Car Fund will offer motorists between three-hundred and a thousand quid if their cars emit less than 115 grams per kilogram of carbon dioxide. Green-leaning po' folks are stoked. More »
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The other day, while Uncle Bumbeck was picking up a new head for the Starion and a set of 13" slot mags for the Starlet at the junkyard, he was talking about all of the cool vintage Japanese iron that was sitting there, waiting to be stripped and crushed as a result of buyback plans, which of course, are often funded by industries who don't want to clean up their own acts in the name of profits. Now word comes from the UK that five companies: EON UK, RWE NPower, Drax, Corus and EDF release more carbon dioxide into the air per year than all of the cars in the country. Hrm... More »
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We love mercury. It's all shiny and weird and molten and heavy. Back in 7th grade, we had a container full of it in science class. Then some girl dropped it and they had to call in a Haz-Mat crew to clean the place up. And now the Feds are working with automakers, recyclers and the steel industry to remove the mercury content from junked cars before they're sent to the crusher. According to the EPA, dead autos contribute 11 tons of quicksilver to the environment every year. More »
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Methyl tertiary butyl ether and California used to be tight like Walter and The Dude. But then MTBE got all overzealous and screwed up the mission by polluting the groundwater. So Cali partnered up with ethanol, but you know, things with ethanol weren't really working, either, as it actually increased air pollution in some ways. So finally, after a bunch of pestering, the Feds tossed off an "Okay kids, have it your way," and let go of a Clean Air Act mandate to force states into using oxygenates in congested metro area. Plus, y'know, we may even save a buck or two per tank. More »
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Breathe deep, new-car-smell lovers. Actually, maybe you shouldn't. An Ann Arbor—based environmental group found automobile interiors are tricked out with levels of toxic chemicals 10 times higher those in homes and offices. Windshield film and dust samples from randomly selected cars came back with toxic remnants emitted from seats, carpets, arm rests and wire coverings, including a now-banned flame retardant called decabrominated diphenyl ether, or NAMBLA. Maybe we should leave it to automakers to give car buyers a choice between a long, slow death from chemical toxicity and being quickly burned in a flammable interior. Choice is good. More »
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Our '71 Motobecane 50v? She gets great mileage, sounds mean in an if-Kathleen-Turner-Were-a-Stinging-Insect kinda way, and pollutes the air way more than your Escalade, chump. According to a study by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research, Japanese, German and Italian bikes produce much higher hydrocarbon emissions than cars, and they recommend legislators take steps to change that. If the gory details thrill ya, the full study will be published in American Chemical Society's journal Environmental Science & Technology. More »
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We spend a fair amount of time huffing gasoline, but we've always been a tad afraid to actually drink it, as it's got a reputation for being rather toxic. Luckily for us, Shell and ExxonMobil are starting to put a big push behind GTL, a fuel derived from natural gas that could replace diesel in major metropolitan areas. Cleaner-burning than diesel, the fuel works in contemporary diesel engines, and thus could be a boon for municipal transit vehicles, as well as heavy trucks and diesel cars in metro areas with high pollution. Plus, possibly most importantly, according to a Shell exec, "You can drink it. You won't feel great, but you won't die." In fact, a kosher version of the substance is actually used to line drink boxes. L'chaim! More »
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Gosh, it sounds like something straight of of Ray Bradbury, does it not? But it's true! California will be rotating emissions- sensing devices through Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. The devices use infrared and ultraviolet beams linked to license-plate cameras to nail the most offensive gross polluters on the road. Incentives will be offered for the cars to be repaired or junked, and if offending owners qualify as low-income, they could receive an additional 2,000 smacks to purchase a less environmentally stanky vehicle. This has been in the works for a while, but now that they're implementing it, we're curious to see what, if anything, it achieves. More »
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The Golden State is mulling over a new plan to get gross-emitting vehicles off of state roads. By creating incentives for donating used, low-emission vehicles to the state, they would be exchanged for cars that can no longer pass California's stringent emissions-control laws. While we think this is an interesting idea, we're still pissed that they repealed the 30-year rolling smog exemption before 1997, which means that our beloved '77 Firebirds will never be legal for serious, affordable high-po duty. More »
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