Eco-Friendly CARS?

OOPS! Cars aren't eco-friendly, now are they? I don't think that any car is actually good for the enviroment, but if you must get a car, there are ones you can get that are more environmentlly friendly than the regular ones. Here are some of the types of "eco-friendly" cars on the market.

Hybrids
According to Wikipedia, "A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. ...
"Power sources for hybrid vehicles include:

• On-board or out-board rechargeable energy storage system (RESS)
• Coal, wood or other solid combustibles
• Electricity
• Electromagnetic fields, Radio waves
• Compressed or liquefied natural gas
• Human powered e.g. pedaling or rowing
• Hydrogen
• Petrol or Diesel fuel
• Solar
• Wind"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle

My comments: Some of these sources are good ones, yet not all of them. Coal, wood, electricity, natural gas, petrol, solar, and wind all have serious problems associated with them. On the other hand, if you can get a hybrid car that runs off, say, scrap vegetable oil from local fast-food places and human power, then you've got yourself quite an eco-friendly car!
Do some research into different types of hybrids to figure out if it would work out for you.

Electric Cars
I don't really believe that these are eco-friendly at all. Depending on where you live, your electricity might come from coal, oil, or alternative energy sources, but it's usually a mix. Coal and oil, of course, are not environmentally-friendly, and alternative energy sources have their drawbacks, too (see next week's post for reasons why alternative energy isn't as great as it sounds).

Biofuels
Biofuels are bad. Sorry to be blunt, but with 1 in every 7 person in the world not getting enough to eat, we should not be burning corn to power our cars. Biofuels also require a lot of land for growing, which results in native family farms being converted into foreign-owned monoculture.

Small Cars
When you use a small car as opposed to a medium-sized or larger one, you'll be using less fuel. Therefore, whether your car runs off vegetable oil scraps or regular gasoline, it should definitely be small.

No Car
The best option, of course, is to use no car at all! Who needs a car when you can use buses, bikes, and your own two feet? Taxis will always be available in a pinch. For some awesome ideas on sustainable, car-free transportation, please see my other blog post on the subject, Sustainable Transportation: Part I.