What we really need is less people.

--- On Sat, 6/30/12, Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU> wrote:

From: Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject: Re: EPA and Vanagon Emissions
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Date: Saturday, June 30, 2012, 6:00 AM

A liter of water weighs a kilo - that's how a kilo is defined.� Gasoline
weighs less than water.� But in any case, the point was that burning one
liter of gas (weighing less than one kilo) emits more than 2 kg of carbon,
which is what seemed odd to me.

Diesel may well emit less per distance - the point was that (irrespective
of your gas mileage) you have to burn less to emit less.� Depending on your
fuel and your fuel efficiency, that might mean you drive more or less
miles.� The ultimate goal here is not less emissions per mile, it's less
emissions.� If you have to reduce miles to accomplish that, so be it.

From what I've read, when people get more fuel-efficient vehicles, they
tend to drive more since the cost of driving has gone down.� So their
emissions stay the same.� From an environmental perspective, the goal is to
get emissions down.� Whereas the personal goal might be to be able to drive
more (i.e. go to more fun places) at the same cost (usually in money, not
emissions).� The personal goal does not help achieve the environmental goal.