If you have to drive a vehicle then try and drive with the least impact to the environment and minimize your greenhouse gas emissions. However the best driving style for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution is to leave your keys, and the vehicle, at home. Instead, take a bus, train, bicycle or walk. But until you are ready to give up your ride, here are a few simple tips to help make your driving style more fuel-efficient.
Travel light
Do you really need to drag around a carload full of crap for a trip to the mall? Removing any excess weight and baggage from your vehicle will help save a few percent on your fuel consumption. You will be surprised how much all those golf clubs, old gym bag, and unreturned library books, weigh. For example, if your Honda Civic weighs around 1,300kgs then removing 50kgs of excess weight should give you a 3.5% mass reduction and an estimated 2% saving in fuel consumption, according to information from the US Department of Energy.
Don’t idle your engine
Check out our Idling Section to see why it really doesn't pay to engine idle. Not only is your vehicle belching out greenhouse gases, you are wasting money and creating noise pollution too.
Travel together
Don’t be a lone wolf. Carpool and organize destinations with friends. This way you can potentially halve your combined emissions for the journey.
Obey the speed limits
Not only do you avoid incurring the wrath of the law, but you can save a whack of gas. Remember the laws of aerodynamics that say the aerodynamic drag on your vehicle increases as a squared term. This means that going 10% over the speed limit results in an increase in drag force of 21%. Since more than 50% of the engine power is used just to overcome drag and maintain a steady pace at highway speeds, you can see why obeying the speed limit also makes good environmental sense.
Keep windows closed
Everyone needs fresh air, especially if that hitchhiker you decided to give a lift to doesn’t have quite the same hygiene standard as yourself. However, as your speed increases open windows create a lot of extra air drag. At higher speeds, around 70-80kph, it’s more efficient to close the windows and use air conditioning if you really have to. The AC will increase the load on the engine because of the extra belts, pulleys, motors and electric load, but these are generally offset by the lower drag coefficient with having the windows shut. Having a window half open at highway speeds or running the AC, will both reduce fuel efficiency by about the same amount.
Slow down
Putting the gas pedal to the metal will make your fuel consumption increase because you are pushing the engine to higher power levels which requires more gas, and pushing the vehicle against the increasing aerodynamic drag at an intensifying rate. Accelerating hard and making the vehicle do extra work in a shorter than ‘normal’ time reduces your fuel economy by 5-30%, according to the US Department of Energy.
Ditch the weekend gear
Once you get to your final destination you might want to unpack your Thule, unhitch your bicycles and get your skis off the roof. Carrying these items around reduces your fuel economy by increasing the cross sectional area of your vehicle. This is most significant for roof-mounted bicycles since they are not aerodynamic in shape. Leaving your weekend stuff on the car while you drive around town reduces fuel efficiency, causes unnecessary greenhouse gas and adds pollution to an already choked urban environment.
Pump up your tires
If your tire pressures are low then you might be throwing away an estimated 3% of your fuel economy, as well as wearing out your tires more quickly and having a less stable vehicle. Check your tire pressures at least once a month.
Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance
Keep up regular maintenance on your vehicle, including engine oil changes, transmission oil changes and most importantly, the air filter. Regular vehicle maintenance is essential to ensure the engine is operating at peak efficiency, but also to avoid polluting unnecessarily.
Resources
Fuel Economy and Pollution: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/
Green Driving Info: http://www.greencarcongress.com/
Tire info: http://www.michelin.co.uk
Trevor Williams is a University of Victoria Mechanical Engineering PhD candidate specialising in renewable energy, power grid modelling and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. He has a bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering, a Masters in Management Science and over 23 years international experience in the space industry, having worked on Earth observation and telecommunications satellites.
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