With increasing focus on environment and pollution, I have been asked this question many times - Why I drive a 4WD vehicle in Kolkata? Frankly speaking, I could not justify clearly. I stumbled upon this article yesterday and I found the point of view quite interesting. I am not saying that it is a fool proof article, but still a different point of view is always welcome, especially when it matches yours
I really liked the line at the end -
Quote:
Just because someone drives a 4X4 doesn’t mean to say they’re wrecking the environment. You need to look at their entire environmental footprint, not make snap judgements based on a glance and misconceptions.
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Source:
https://medium.com/@robertpepperL2SF...t-bcba5ab23b50 Your 4x4 lifestyle is good for the environment - by Robert Pepper
“I suppose you’re all right, you go camping with it”.
With that, my colleague delivered his judgement and granted permission for me to own and operate a 4X4 vehicle. He couldn’t otherwise see why I wanted a largish, 2500kg vehicle with offroad capabilities, and he was openly scornful of those who owned such vehicles for a variety of reasons; safety, size and the effect on the environment.
There’s a lot to unpack in that attitude, which is mostly based on lack of understanding and fear. But let’s look at the environmental impact and whether it’s really right to make such wide-ranging assumptions.
Here’s a 4X4, modified for offroading touring and camping. It’s my Ford Ranger PX, photographed during a camping trip.
And here’s a hybrid Toyota Camry:
Now let’s take two identical families of four. Family A drives the Ranger modified for offroad touring, and takes a four-week camping holiday each year. Family B drives the Camry, and flies to Bali or equivalent for four weeks each year. That means the only differences between the two families are the car they drive, and their holiday method.
While both families with drive the same number of kilometres a year for errands, the car they use is different so I’ll calculate the emissions.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us that the average mileage per car in Australia is 13,400km. Looking at Ford.com.au, I see that a MY2020 Ranger PX3 4X4 dualcab Bi-Turbo emits 195g of CO2 per kilometer, and Toyota.com.au tells me that a MY2020 Toyota Hybrid SL emits 103g/km.
However, both figures will be on the low side for real-world use, because the fuel consumption and emissions testing doesn’t represent reality. For that reason, I’m going to add 10% to the Camry’s figure, and 20% to that of the Ranger. The reason why the Ranger gets double the increase of the Camry is because I’m going to assume that it will be modified with items such as offroad tyres, a roofrack, winch and driving lights, all of which add weight and increase aerodynamic drag.
So our first bit of maths is this; 195 x 20% = 234g/km for the Ranger, x 13,400km = 3.14 tonnes for the year. For the Camry, it’s 103 x 10% = 113.3, x 13,400km = 1.52 tonnes for the year. Family B are well ahead, less than half the emissions of Family A.
Now let’s go on our four-week holidays. I’m going to assume Family A will go camping the whole time, and cover 5000km. I’m also going to assume that as their Ranger is more heavily loaded than usual with camping gear, so the emissions increase by 30% over the stock figure, not 20%. That gives us 253g/km x 5000km = 1.27 tonnes for their holiday.
Family B parks the Camry, and flies to Bali. I’m going to allow 500km worth of car travel for them — to and from the airports, and around Bali. I’ll assume the emissions are the same as for their own Camry; so 113g/km x 500km = 0.06 tonnes. They need to fly to Bali, so using the ICAO’s calculator for a Melbourne to Denpasar trip in economy class that’s 513.8kg per person. And we’ve got four people, so that’s 2.05 tonnes for the flight. Once there, they’ll need somewhere to stay, and it appears the standard emissions measure for a hotel room is 31.1kg per room per night. So, 28 nights x 31.1kg = 0.87 tonnes. That brings Family B to a total of 2.98 tonnes for their holiday, compared to 1.27 for Family A.
If we now total the annual emissions for Family A, it’s 4.4 tonnes, but for Family B, it’s 4.5 tonnes. So, Family A is more environmentally friendly than Family B, despite the latter cruising around in a hybrid car.
Now of course you can create any number of scenarios where Family A or B comes out ahead. But that’s the point. Just because someone drives a 4X4 doesn’t mean to say they’re wrecking the environment. You need to look at their entire environmental footprint, not make snap judgements based on a glance and misconceptions.