Green Cars Guide
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Australia's Quest for Green Cars
Talk has been rife about Australia's car industry's need to produce green cars to combat the spectre of global warming and potentially disastrous climate change. Although it can be argued that Australia's contribution to the global emissions scheme of things is relatively miniscule, and greenhouse gases coming from cars is far outweighed that coming from farming and bush burn-offs, many people believe that Australia should take the lead in developing the next wave in car technology, one that promises ever-decreasing carbon output and increasingly powered by non-traditional sources: plants, wind, sun and water currents.
Building green cars in Australia is one of the current government's more contentious policies, drawing flak and support from often members of the same group. On one hand, many argue that government funding to support car-making research is essential to keeping the high-tech industry alive in Australia, and bring the already-mentioned cars to millions of homes and parking lots.
Australia's Quest for Green Cars
Talk has been rife about Australia's car industry's need to produce green cars to combat the spectre of global warming and potentially disastrous climate change. Although it can be argued that Australia's contribution to the global emissions scheme of things is relatively miniscule, and greenhouse gases coming from cars is far outweighed that coming from farming and bush burn-offs, many people believe that Australia should take the lead in developing the next wave in car technology, one that promises ever-decreasing carbon output and increasingly powered by non-traditional sources: plants, wind, sun and water currents.
Building green cars in Australia is one of the current government's more contentious policies, drawing flak and support from often members of the same group. On one hand, many argue that government funding to support car-making research is essential to keeping the high-tech industry alive in Australia, and bring the already-mentioned cars to millions of homes and parking lots.
Others contend that the billions of dollars earmarked for industry support for the next decade or so should be coming from these automobile companies' own funds, given that more consumers are demanding green-certified cars for themselves. At worst, opposers to the green car plan say that it is a taxpayers' subsidy to companies who should be making investments at their customer's behest.
It remains to be seen how the Australian car industry will play out its cards, given the difficult market conditions it has been enduring lately. Quite possibly, releasing a new hit green car on the Aussie market will score a company brownie points for corporate concern and will be partly marketed for its environmentally-correct virtues.
However, Aussie car owners have been known to overwhelmingly prefer driving utes, gas-guzzling four-wheel drives, and even power vehicles like the road train. Add to that the presence of internal combustion engines in sand rails, jet boats and planes and it can be seen how nothing less is needed than a complete overhaul of how cars and other vehicles are powered, and where car fuel comes from.
Even in the worst of times for the domestic car industry, it is probable that the only way to revitalise everyone's interest in the future is to roll out new green car technologies, or move green car concepts from the engineering room to the factory floor, and soon!
So What Are Green Cars, Really?
Ask someone what comes into mind when you say green cars, and the answer's likely to be a Japanese or German car model that runs partly on battery power. Yes, this is currently the entire car industry's state of the art that's in mass production, but the idea of green cars go far beyond hybrids.
The truth is the first cars ever made were already green cars in a way, being run on electricity in the late 19th century. However, petroleum was discovered to be plentiful and a cheap fuel source for running engines at controlled, constant speeds with immediate responses to fuel intake.
However, internal combustion as a way of converting petrol into engine power creates soot and releases noxious gases into the air, and wastes a good portion of the fuel besides. Until a Japanese car manufacturer invented a cleaner-burning internal combustion engine with pistons, dense clouds of odorous black smoke were accepted as motoring's aftermath.
Not anymore, as new technologies come to the rescue! Electricity in the form of stored-charge batteries and fuel cells create only water and heat on the car's end, and the power could be ultimately coming from a hydro-electric dam. Electric power and a smart engine take off grams of carbon from every cubic litre of exhaust.
Saving fuel is another goal all green cars aim for, since less energy burned means more available for the future. Rather than a finite resource, like petrol deposits or tar sands, green cars strive to use as much energy from replenishable methods as possible. Batteries could be recharged at night from a huge field of turbines ever-rotating in the breeze; engines could drink a mixture of petrol and plant oils, even recycled and processed cooking oil.
To be realistic about it, car companies are already capable of building green cars, but economic ways of producing them for the needs of normal drivers are still to be figured out, not just here but even in the biggest car markets. Like any other car, green cars have to rate high on exterior body styling, accessories, creature comforts and safety. Green cars must fit into contemporary lifestyles to click, unless drivers themselves are ready to change their driving habits to do a little bit of saving the earth from the drastic burdens of pollution.
It remains to be seen how the Australian car industry will play out its cards, given the difficult market conditions it has been enduring lately. Quite possibly, releasing a new hit green car on the Aussie market will score a company brownie points for corporate concern and will be partly marketed for its environmentally-correct virtues.
However, Aussie car owners have been known to overwhelmingly prefer driving utes, gas-guzzling four-wheel drives, and even power vehicles like the road train. Add to that the presence of internal combustion engines in sand rails, jet boats and planes and it can be seen how nothing less is needed than a complete overhaul of how cars and other vehicles are powered, and where car fuel comes from.
Even in the worst of times for the domestic car industry, it is probable that the only way to revitalise everyone's interest in the future is to roll out new green car technologies, or move green car concepts from the engineering room to the factory floor, and soon!
So What Are Green Cars, Really?
Ask someone what comes into mind when you say green cars, and the answer's likely to be a Japanese or German car model that runs partly on battery power. Yes, this is currently the entire car industry's state of the art that's in mass production, but the idea of green cars go far beyond hybrids.
The truth is the first cars ever made were already green cars in a way, being run on electricity in the late 19th century. However, petroleum was discovered to be plentiful and a cheap fuel source for running engines at controlled, constant speeds with immediate responses to fuel intake.
However, internal combustion as a way of converting petrol into engine power creates soot and releases noxious gases into the air, and wastes a good portion of the fuel besides. Until a Japanese car manufacturer invented a cleaner-burning internal combustion engine with pistons, dense clouds of odorous black smoke were accepted as motoring's aftermath.
Not anymore, as new technologies come to the rescue! Electricity in the form of stored-charge batteries and fuel cells create only water and heat on the car's end, and the power could be ultimately coming from a hydro-electric dam. Electric power and a smart engine take off grams of carbon from every cubic litre of exhaust.
Saving fuel is another goal all green cars aim for, since less energy burned means more available for the future. Rather than a finite resource, like petrol deposits or tar sands, green cars strive to use as much energy from replenishable methods as possible. Batteries could be recharged at night from a huge field of turbines ever-rotating in the breeze; engines could drink a mixture of petrol and plant oils, even recycled and processed cooking oil.
To be realistic about it, car companies are already capable of building green cars, but economic ways of producing them for the needs of normal drivers are still to be figured out, not just here but even in the biggest car markets. Like any other car, green cars have to rate high on exterior body styling, accessories, creature comforts and safety. Green cars must fit into contemporary lifestyles to click, unless drivers themselves are ready to change their driving habits to do a little bit of saving the earth from the drastic burdens of pollution.
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