pollution

Different Kinds of Fuels and their History

Simply put, there is no best fuel for a car. Each fuel has its own advantages and disadvantages. The focus these days is to extract as much energy as you can from a fuel and also keep the pollutants in the exhaust to a minimum. This is why companies are continuously looking for alternatives to improve efficiency and environment-friendliness. CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE

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Paris e-scooters under pressure to prove green credentials

Hadjali and Gompo are part of the “urban patrols” carried out by the US start-up Lime, which says the recovered units are recycled as much as possible — though the lithium-ion batteries are usually shot. Paris – Pulling on makeshift roped hooks along a sun-drenched bank of the Seine River in Paris, Youva Hadjali and Edison Gompo fish out two electric scooters — not the most ecological fate for devices billed as a carbon-free fix for strained urban transport systems. As city officials vow to rein in the use of wildly popular e-scooters, their short lifespans, along with the energy consumed to build and service them, have many wondering if they are as good for the environment as operators say. Hadjali and Gompo are part of the “urban patrols” carried out by the US start-up Lime, which says the recovered units are recycled as much as possible — though the lithium-ion batteries are usually shot. “Overall in Paris, Lime scooters have saved the equivalent of two days without any cars at all” since they arrived 16 months ago, Arthur-Louis Jacquier, head of French operations, told AFP. Critics say such claims fail to take into account the carbon emitted in constructing the scooters and the daily collections for recharging the so-called “dockless” vehicles. Those emissions are compounded by lifespans of barely a year, due to wear and tear but also vandalism. They were a specific target of activists at the Extinction Rebellion protest in Paris last month, who gathered up a huge pile of the devices to denounce what they labelled “pointless pollution.” “Scooters don’t replace cars, they motorise walking trips,” one sign said. Studies indeed show that most scooter trips are replacing walking or biking, with just a third displacing car use, said Jeremiah Johnson of North Carolina State University.

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Shared e-scooters aren’t as environmentally friendly as other transport options

  A new study has found that e-scooters may be greener than most cars, but they can be less green than several other options. Washington DC: People who think electric scooters or e-scooters are environmentally friendly, take note! A new study has found that e-scooters may be greener than most cars, but they can be less green than several other options. “E-scooter companies tout themselves as having little or no carbon footprint, which is a bold statement,” said Jeremiah Johnson, the corresponding author of the study “We wanted to look broadly at the environmental impacts of shared e-scooters – and how that compares to other local transportation options.” To capture the impact of e-scooters, researchers looked at emissions associated with four aspects of each scooter’s life cycle: the production of the materials and components that go into each scooter; the manufacturing process; shipping the scooter from the manufacturer to its city of use; and collecting, charging and redistributing the scooters. The researchers also conducted a small-scale survey of e-scooter riders to see what modes of transportation they would have used if they hadn’t used an e-scooter. The researchers found that 49 per cent of riders would have biked or walked; 34 per cent would have used a car; 11 per cent would have taken a bus; and 7 per cent wouldn’t have taken the trip at all. In order to compare the impact of e-scooters to that of other transport options, the researchers looked at previously published life cycle analyses of cars, buses, electric mopeds, and bicycles. Researchers looked at four types of pollution and environmental impact: climate change impact; nutrient loading in water; respiratory health impacts related to air pollution; and acidification. The performance results were similar for all four types of pollution. “A lot of what we found

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