Does Driving Ecofriendly Really Make a Difference to Our Environment?

Unless you live under a rock you have heard about the importance of ecofriendly driving. Amazingly there are still some people who are not sure that it really makes a difference. Trying to argue that it doesn't is really just absurd. A more worrying problem however is the people who think that they are driving in an environmentally friendly way but really aren't.

Driving ecofriendly makes a huge difference to the environment; it massively reduces greenhouse gas emissions. There is overwhelming evidence that greenhouse gases are the main cause of climate change and that there is a desperate need to reduce the amount that we are producing. Far and away the leading cause of greenhouse gases are the emissions from cars. Clearly this provides an opportunity to help the environment by driving cars that are more friendly to the environment.

While it is clear that ecofriendly driving is good for the environment it is not always clear what ecofriendly driving is. Many people just assume that if they get a hybrid they are driving in a way that is environmentally friendly, this is not the case. The thing that you have to keep in mind is that there is an environmental impact no matter how the power is generated. In many cases you will find that the hybrid is no more fuel efficient than some of the internal combustion engines that are on the market. You really have to pay attention to how much fuel is burned for every mile that you drive and not just assume that a certain technology is good for the environment.

The other thing that you have to keep in mind is that while reducing greenhouse gases is important it is not the only environmental issue. This is something that becomes relevant when you start looking at electric cars. Proponents of electric cars regularly talk about the fact that there are no emissions from the cars. This is true of course but it doesn't address the impact of the creating the electricity that is used in powering them. In some cases this may be through coal fired power plants which in fact does produce greenhouse emissions. In other cases the power may come from a nuclear power plant or a hydroelectric plant, both of which create their own environmental issues.

It is important that we make an effort to reduce the environmental impact that we are having and ecofriendly driving can certainly do that. However you have to make sure that you are actually reducing your environmental impact, many people who assume that they are really aren't. The goal should be to reduce the amount of energy that you use in your driving; all forms of energy will have some sort environmental impact no matter how we produce them.