[RajaTaurus]

Note: This is an environmental protection campaign and if the mods feel it shall be moved to another thread elsewhere, please do so. However, I request to leave this as a new thread, as this will also serve as a 'sign up sheet' for those who wish to participate. I am compiling the sign-ups and consolidate from various media to make the campaign successful. I would highly appreciate cooperation from the mods in this regard...

I am a GREEN Driver.. How about you..?

What is being Green?

Global Warming, Green-house effect, Ozone layer depletion, CO2 emission, changing extreme weather conditions, increasing temperatures, devastating rains and droughts, more frequent cyclones and unprecedented forest fires – these have been the major concern for the entire world, regardless of advanced nations or growing countries, as the effect is global and everyone is affected.

Where we are now?

CO2 Emission has been on an unprecedented rise in the past few decades for reasons attributable to faster growth rates of many countries around the nation. We must point out that the world’s CO2 emissions from the transportation sector exceeded 5 G annual tons in 2002, of which more than 4.2 G came from road transportation (which is an incredible 84%), CO2 emissions from transportation for 2030 are projected to exceed 8.5 G tons.

With respect to the European Union, forecasts show that between 2000 and 2030 emissions will increase by 1 G to 1.3 G tons annually in Europe alone. In short, CO2 emissions from the transportation sector are at a very high level and therefore have tremendous environmental consequences.

What are we doing now?

The entire world is now focusing on CO2 saving. Which really means reducing CO2 emissions as far as possible. Every vehicle that runs on the road emits CO2 at different levels, depending upon its fuel consumption and engine efficiency. We are trying to develop projects that could save or absorb the CO2 being emitted now and that would be emitted in future.

How a vehicle contributes to CO2 emission?

Every vehicle that runs on petroleum fuel exhausts consists of 70% nitrogen, 15% carbon dioxide (CO2), 15% water vapour. While Nitrogen and Water vapor do not contribute to global warming, scientists have proved that increase in CO2 in the atmosphere will increase the atmospheric temperature. For example, doubling the CO2 content in the air would cause a rise of 5 to 6 degrees in air temperature. This rise globally would mean disasters in unimaginable proportions.

What is the Acceleration Menace?

It may be surprising to know that a vehicle uses more than 6 times the average fuel during acceleration than during cruising at a normal speed.

That implies every time a vehicle brakes and accelerates in lower gears, the vehicle consumes 6 times more fuel, resulting 6 times more CO2 than it could have emitted.

See below the average fuel efficiency of a 2 Liter car

1st Gear – 1.51 kmpl (Kilometer per Liter)
2nd Gear – 2.27 kmpl.
3rd Gear – 4.55 kmpl.
4th Gear – 9.09 kmpl.
5th gear – 11.11 kmpl.

In our Indian Metros, we are driving most of the times 1st, 2nd and 3rd gears, thereby we are consuming an average of 6-7 times more fuel than our counterparts else where in the world.

That implies every time a vehicle brakes and accelerates, it is consuming 5 times more fuel, than it would have consumed if it didn’t brake unnecessarily.

What I Can do to reduce CO2 emissions?

You can contribute to the reduction of CO2 Emission by following few simple driving rules and road habits. As the entire world is talking about being ‘green’ in whatever they do, you can also become a ‘green driver’. Unlike other ‘green’ projects which are under development and expensive at least as of now, this project does not cost you money, instead it saves you money and benefits your city community as a whole.

How can I be a GREEN DRIVER?

Well, a Green driver contributes to reduction of CO2 emission, primarily by other vehicles on the road and as a indirect benefit, directly reduces his own CO2 emission as well.

Remember, every time a vehicle brakes and accelerates it uses 6 times more fuel – 6 times more CO2 emission into the atmosphere.

Now by adopting to ‘green driving’, you follow these principles:

1. When I enter a main road, I stop, watch the traffic from right, allow them to pass and then enter. Imagine you are entering a main road from a side road without watching to the right, and a truck is coming at 40 kmph speed. He has to brake until you enter and pick up speed and then he accelerates. That was 1 x 5 times more CO2 into the atmosphere because of you. If there were 5 vehicles coming behind that truck, then multiply that by 5.
2. When I have to turn, I plan my turn, take the correct lane to turn and turn when the signal is Green. Unplanned turns cause the vehicles on the other lane to slow down and accelerate after you pass. At least 5 vehicles accelerate because of you.
3. I don’t make my own lanes at traffic signals. Each traffic signal has at least one (or more) lane(s) to go straight, one to turn right and one to turn left (if any). If you make another lane between these 3 lanes just because there is space, you slow down the entire traffic, as there would be only 1 lane to go in the front. All the extra-lane vehicles try to squeeze through and you end up slowing down the traffic and then accelerate, more CO2 into the atmosphere.
4. I stop always on the stop line: This would help the pedestrians cross on the zebra crossing and the other side traffic to pass faster. If you overshoot the zebra crossing, people walk on the road, the other side traffic slows down, more CO2 into the air…
5. I never drive on the other side of the road especially, at traffic signals: At the traffic signal, if you cross over the median line to the other side, the on-coming vehicles will have little place to pass, slowing down the vehicles, more fuel consumption and more CO2 into the air.
6. I don’t stop or park on roads with only 2 lanes: By ad-hoc stopping and parking, even for few minutes causes more vehicles to brake and accelerate emitting more CO2.
7. I never go through One way roads: Most of the One way roads are unmonitored and if one vehicle comes in the opposite direction, it could cause as many as 50 vehicles to slow down and accelerate Emitting more CO2.
8. I always insist the driver of the vehicle I travel in follow these principles/ rules, be it a cab, a bike, an Auto, or a bus. You sure can insist on the drivers of these vehicles you ride in, and I am sure at least half of them would oblige and that is a big achievement.

This is not an exhaustive list of principles. Anything that does least hindrance to the main traffic contributes in multi-folds…

Assume you are violating each of the above in one day at least once, and as an average 5 vehicles slowed down and accelerated because of you, the resulting CO2 emitted into the atmosphere is an average of 8 acts x 5 vehicles x 6 times more fuel consumption. That is an whopping, 240 TIMES CO2 emitted into the atmosphere on a single day because of you.

That also means that if you follow these rules, in One day, you contributed to the CO2 saving by at least 240 times of the fuel consumption of 1 vehicle.

Now, if you follow these simple principles, you can feel yourself proud of contributing to the environment, by reducing the CO2 that could otherwise have been emitted by others because of you.

…and You can call yourself a GREEN DRIVER.

Who will listen?

Well the greatest and oldest arguments we always have is ‘it is impossible to correct the people, they will never learn, why only I have to change when nobody else is ready to change?, etc., etc…

Now, myself, I am following these principles. I always stop at the stop line on Yellow and at least 3 out of 5 stops along with me. Of course, that 2 out of 5 overshoots. But, at least 3 stopped. If I had overshot, all the 5 would also have overshot the line for sure. The same will work for you too.

It works and all it takes is your commitment to the environment, your trust that you can set an example, your belief that we are all educated civilized people and sure we all together can make this earth a better place to live for our children tomorrow.

Slowly but surely we can bring about this green revolution, one more time…


What you could do?

· Please share this article with as many friends as possible.
· Please put in your comment with these words “I am a Green Driver. I contribute to saving the Earth.”
· Please feel free to print this article and try to distribute to your colleagues.
· Please help me start this Green Driver Campaign and take it to next levels - the print and visual media.

I am confident that we all together can bring about the changes and save the Mother Earth.

[aaggoswami]

Its a concern that is affecting everyone, I mean here we have to think at world level, and not just nation level. Almost every human in the world is aware of this. We have to now think about this as World Citizen.

I appreciate your campaign from my heart. I will surely be spreading this word to to all my friends and in fact, I am now interested in Bike pooling with my friend, and it is working out to be good by all means on paper and will be executed practically.

The reality is that there are almost no chances to reduce the emession. What we need, in India atleast is a proper, safe and secure infrastructure ( PSSI ). We are crying for this, but still no move. I believe that if PSSI is available, a huge number of people will try to access them. We can save a lot here.

I think that now its in the hands of authorities to make a point here. Even better roads in India can help us reduce emession and fuel consumption. Here I would like to give my example. If the road conditions were better then my bike would be using 1 ltr of fuel for 75kmpl than 55 right now. Out of the 30km travel, I am in first three gears for 20 kms.

One more thing about India is the quality of fuel. It surely does affect the emesssions. Its upto government to step in and ensure firm controls. Our engines lose efficiency becasue of fuel also.

One more thing we can do ( atleast who have resources available ) is planting more trees to maintain the green cover. I think that we can certainly do this and if at all people get serious on this, we can surley make a huge difference.


Rest assured, I have already made move and I am doing the best possible I can do. I am lucky enough to have a garden and space for planting trees, and I do have more than 10 trees of " Asopalov " in my home, and many more. We all take care of the shorter ones.

If CNG gives less emessions, we will be installing CNG in our Baleno and its already there in Maruti 800 ( here it was to reduce running cost ).

I assure you my co operation, and hope that you succeed in making this happen.

[condor]

@Raja, what is the source of this information ? Are the values in this information valid & applicable to our conditions ?

I donot agree with those FE figures. Most of my driving in Bangalore city involves 2nd & 3rd gear. The rare 4th gear is a luxury that I dont get too often. Yet, my FE is more like 5th gear values quoted here. And this too is on the lower side because of my driving style that involves late gear changes.


No - I dont dispute the logic & reasoning behind the contents of the post. I follow the first 7 points you have listed here, and pretty stringently. I consider my driving quite planned and disciplined in a way that it can be called green driving.

Even beyond the road, I have been green & eco conscious for as long as I remember, and extend that to every single sheet of paper or a mug of water that I encounter in day to day life. Even a branch of a plant.


Like GreenPeace said in one of it's ads, refering to the Earth: It may be small, but it's all we've got.

[santhosh_kumard]

Thanks Raja for opening a thread which I wanted to open sometime soon. Well, for the uninitiated one can watch 'The Inconvenient Truth' to start with. Nowadays HBO reruns it every now and then.

Two Points which I would like to add is:
1.) Avoid Car for smaller trips: Take a walk, Ride a bike. These two options save loads of CO-2. Reduces Traffic. Saves your health. Saves your money. You can even take two-wheelers for intra-city movements. I walk to whatever I can within around 1 Km radius. I use BMTC whenever I can. Otherwise I take my reliable two-wheeler.
2.) Stop your engines at traffic signals: Guys please!, the modern gas/diesel engines do not take that much fuel to start up and especially heated up engines. So any stops more than 20 seconds warrants an engine off. I have seen two-wheelers/auto do this nowadays. Then why not cars too?. For instance the Koramangala-4th block side of the IRR-SonyWorld junction takes 5 mins for a cycle!!. You can safely switch off and see that perhaps some more folks take inspiration from you.

I am sure as more and more people become aware of this and follow the simple rules, they can not only save our only home, but also save our fuel expenditure!.

[RajaTaurus]

->Condor,
These are instantaneous fuel efficiency during acceleration in those respective gears. I should have mentioned that more clear in my post.
These are not values of average efficiency if you drive for long time in specific gears... Only during acceleration.
Nowadays most of the modern luxury cars have this "Instant fuel efficiency" in terms of Liters/100 km, displayed.
I had a Camry 2005 model, which shows around 50-60 Liters/100 km, when I accelerate from stand still to around 20 kmph speed, as it was an automatic Tx.
It comes down to 20 L/100 kms at around 80 kmph and above 100 kmph, it even drops to 6-7 L/100 kms

It just gives an idea, how much frequent 'slow-down/acceleration/slow down' cycles in 1st and 2nd gears are contributing to the overall fuel consumption and there by to the Co2 emission.

Thanks for being a Green Driver, my friend, it is encouraging...

[bblost]

@RajaTauras:
to give a first hand understanding off this stop and go, I will refer to my drive from Hyderabad to Chennai.
On the onward journey I drove my wagon R alone at speeds of 80.
After 350 kms, when I refueled the milage was 19.2 kmpl.
On completion of the 650 kms journey due to a problem with a bad petrol bunk I was not able to get accurate figures for entire trip.

ON the return journey I had my wife. She slept the whole way.
This meant every speed breaker and road bump was taken at almost 0-5 kmph.
And it took me an extra hour to cover the same distance.

The milage returned was 17.x (x was greater than 5, just connot remember the value)

Same road, same car, same driver.

Only difference in the two trips was an extra person (who does not weigh much).

[RajaTaurus]

-->Mr. Goswami,
Yes, It has to be a combined effort of one and all and the government. And it gives a bit satisfaction that government is finally waking up to the need for better roads and infrastructure.

What I see here in Chennai, is the broader the road, the more we choke it at traffic signals. In a 4 lane road we make atleast 7 or 8 lanes when it is Red. And when it turns green, there is chaoes and those big bullies get trhrough first, sometimes even leaving a nice gift of scratch on your car....

And most of the drivers in 2 wheelers are educated, working in good companies, but, have this bullying habit of pushing through to the front of the Stopline. Let us only hope that some kind of awareness develops in this country to let others drive..

[Torqy]

@rajataurus, thats a nice list and really appreciate your initiative.
Now, if only those IDIOTIC "lane makers" could read this and understand...!

-- Torqy

[aaggoswami]

1)
I think that manufacturers are also to play a major role here. They, combined with the customers, should oppose the government about the fuel quality and quantity.

Manufacturers should also bring in latest technology ( which might require good quality of fuel ) that help in keeping the environment clean. Hyundai has taken a right step forward by providing the CO2 figures in the recent launch of i10 1.2. These should be made mandatory. In fact taxing the car as per its fuel efficiency as emession is the best thing to do.


2)

Originally Posted by RajaTaurus;905388
And most of the drivers in 2 wheelers are educated, working in good companies, but, have this bullying habit of pushing through to the front of the Stopline. Let us only hope that some kind of awareness develops in this country to [U

let others drive..[/u]

Although I agree with about the two wheeler riders, nto all of them are bad. I always obey rules when on my bike, and also people are stunned when I dont make my one lane but rather prefer to be behind a car. Also I dont cut lanes and if I do, I consider the car drivers in whose lane I am going in. I am the one who has to drive both cars and bike. So I understand the problem.


3)
The only thing we can do is that the government starts educating the masses at the RTO apart from improving infrastructure.

[condor]

Is this turning out to be a discussion on driving habits & effect on traffic ? About how non-lane driving is causing traffic problems ?

[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by condor

Is this turning out to be a discussion on driving habits & effect on traffic ? About how non-lane driving is causing traffic problems ?

You are absolutely right my friend,

Driving habits and its effect on traffic can save millions of Rupees, Time, energy, stress and a whole lot.

The bottomline is, "Nobody-follows-rules-or-have-road-manners-why-should-I" attitude, that makes every campaign to 'educate' people a non-starter.

Every driver on the road knows just too well all the traffic rules and road manners, but just dont want to follow, as others are not following!

[muralisk]

Completely agree with all the points. If most of us follows rules and stick to the basic diving rules, we will contribute a lot to both the environment and also save a lot of money on fuel. For the past 4-5 weeks I have followed a new set of rules (see below) and have seen significant improvement in both mileage (13.xx levels to 15.xx levels) and peace of mind.

6 ways you're wasting gas
Source: CNNMoney.com

It's not easy to break bad driving habits, but if you don't, the money you lose on gas could wind up breaking your bank.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- With all the worry over fuel prices, you'd think drivers would do whatever they can not to waste gas. But look around and you'll see lots of them tooling around as if they owned their own tanker fleet. One of them might be you.

Here are six ways drivers typically waste gas every on every trip:
1. Racing away from green lights

When the light turns green, you don't have to take off as quickly as possible. That pedal under your right foot is called the "gas pedal" for a good reason. The more you press down on it, the more gas you're pumping into the engine.

Press lightly on the gas pedal, and you'll still accelerate, and you'll still get where you're going. You might be surprised at how little pressure it takes to get your car up to speed in a reasonable time.
2. Racing up to red lights

When you're driving down the street, and you see a light red light or stop sign up ahead, you should lay off the gas sooner rather than later.

There's no point in keeping your foot on the gas until just before you reach the intersection. Let off the pedal sooner and give your engine a rest as you coast to the stop while braking gently. As an added benefit, your brake pads will last longer, too.

By themselves, these first two tips can improve your fuel economy around town by as much as 35 percent, according to tests conducted by automotive information Web site Edmunds.com.
3. Confusing the highway with a speedway

Even if it doesn't involve hard acceleration, speeding wastes gas. The faster you go, the more air your vehicle has to push out of the way. It's like moving your hand through water. The faster you try to move your hand, the harder the water pushes back.

In tests by Consumer Reports, driving at 75 miles per hour instead of 65 miles per hour reduced fuel economy by between 3 and 5 miles per gallon, depending on the vehicle.
4. Bumper-buzzing

Tailgating is a bad move for many reasons. First of all, it's unsafe. You reduce your ability to react if the car in front of you slows or stops. It also means you have to pay ultra-close attention to that car which reduces your ability to scan for other hazards ahead of you and to the sides.

And tailgating wastes gas. Every time the driver ahead taps his brakes, you have to slow down even more than he did. (That's because you can't react immediately so you have to slow even more because you're slowing down later.) Then you accelerate again to get back up to speed and resume your bumper-buzzing routine.

Hang back and you'll be safer - plus you'll be able to drive more smoothly and use less fuel. A good rule of thumb is to allow two seconds of space between your car and the one ahead. You can figure that out by counting off two seconds after the car in front of you passes an obvious landmark like an overpass.
5. Driving standing still

You've probably heard that it takes more gas to restart a car than to let it run. Maybe that used to be true, but it isn't anymore. With modern fuel-injection engines, it takes very little extra gas to restart a car once it's warmed up.

Idling, meanwhile, burns about a half-mile worth of gas every minute, according to the California Energy Commission. That's why hybrid cars shut down their gasoline engines whenever they stop, even for a moment.

Now you don't want to shut your engine down for every little stop in your regular, non-hybrid car - it's not designed for that - but if you're waiting for someone to run in and out of a convenience store, turn off the engine.

And don't go through the drive-through at fast food restaurants. You're already paying enough for the oil in those chicken nuggets.

Bonus tip: Don't idle your engine to let it warm up before driving. It does your engine no good and it wastes gas. Instead, start driving right away, but drive gently until the engine is warm.
6. Short hops

For really short trips, take advantage of the opportunity to get some exercise. Try walking to the store instead of driving. You can save gas and burn a few calories instead.

If you can't hoof it, save up your errands. A lot of short hops that let the engine cool down at home between trips can use twice as much gas as starting the car once and making a big sweep to all your stops, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Go to your farthest destination first so your engine has a chance to reach its optimal operating temperature. Then make your other stops on the way back. With the engine warmed up, the car will restart easily and run efficiently all the way home.

[phamilyman]

This is completely so much gyan. Instead why don't you use a cycle whenever possible. That will be truly green.

Am sorry but this thread is about economical driving, not green driving. Green driving is carpooling and ideally human powered movement.

Or just switch to a motorbike. That is a halfway solution.

[appuchan]

Well, green also mean economical while being practical. There is no point in asking somebody to use bicycle when it simply doesnt make sense to cycle 20 kms every day. Car pooling intents to save fuel and lessen pollution by reducing vehicles in road. Eco-driving also saves fuel. It works best when car pooling/cycling/woking from home etc are not practical options.

I've been following eco-driving since March this year and I get about 17kmpl in my Santro and 14 kmpl in petrol Verna in city driving in Bangalore. I can see my FE is still improving by a few decimals every time I fill petrol.

Again, Green is not just about driving. I practice it at home also. Reduce power/water consumption. For example, I pay only about Rs500 per month as power bill. Its a 2000 sqft 3bhk apt with decent facilities. I use light dimmers, only cfl lights, only use geyser/ac/microwave/iron box sparingly... etc

[RajaTaurus]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

This is completely so much gyan. Instead why don't you use a cycle whenever possible. That will be truly green.

Am sorry but this thread is about economical driving, not green driving. Green driving is carpooling and ideally human powered movement.

Or just switch to a motorbike. That is a halfway solution.

I guess you miss the point.
This is not about economical driving, but this is to cause minimum disturbance to others who have the right of way thereby, contributing to more smooth traffic on the roads, reducing overall reduction of fuel consumption.

- Green Driving is all about, accepting that 'there are other vehciles too on the road'.
- Its about, when I cause a violation, its not only me consuming more fuel, but, I am causing so many others to do so, for no fault of theirs...

That's where this eco-driving and not only econo driving.

Next time you hit the road, please watch how many people are not respecting the 'right of way' and observe the consequential delays, slow downs, stops and jams just because of this one thing...