Did you ever wonder if all those energy efficient cars and machines and energy saving devices really save energy and are good for the environment? What I mean is....if building something, like an automobile that comes with big claims of saving energy and saving gas and not polluting the air with all those harmful bad gas emissions...are they REALLY providing a NET energy savings?
According to Honda’s website they claim the 2010 Honda Accord gets 22 MPG in the city and 31 on the highway
Let’s compare this to Honda’s Hybrid car. Their Honda Insight claims to have 40 MPG in the city and 43 MPG on the hwy. Sounds impressive.
DUST TO DUST CYCLE (to produce, distribute, drive, dispose of, etc.). The latest reasoning is that hybrids are not the answer. They are less energy-efficient than conventional vehicles if you look not just at the period when the hybrid is driven, but at their entire dust-to-dust lifecycle.
I found on line a study completed by CNW Research (Marketing/Research Firm) out of Oregon. The study involved collecting data pertaining to the energy cost per vehicle, from production to disposal. And they are translated into 'dollars per lifetime mile' for all new vehicles sold in the US in 2006. Essentially, this report confirms the amount of energy consumed over the lifetime of a vehicle and therefore the environmental impact. The study shows that hybrids did not fare well in this report. Here are a few examples (showing energy cost per lifetime mile):
Here’s what the report showed: Honda Accord Hybrid - $3.29 cost per mile to drive Toyota Prius - $3.24 cost per mile to drive So it seems that the non-hybrid vehicles scored much better than their hybrid counterparts. It sort of makes sense when you take into account energy usage during production and distribution, fuel economy (small factor, so it seems), energy required to dismantle and dispose of the vehicle, etc., and consider that driving a hybrid may reduce greenhouse gases in the area you drive it, but essentially export pollution to other areas –like where the vehicle is built, shipped or disposed of.
Honda Accord (non-hybrid) - $2.18 to drive one mile
Toyota Camry (non-hybrid) - $1.95 to drive one mile